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May 2021

Power Through Patronage: Examining Margaret of Navarre's Political Influence Through Sicily's Cathedral of Monreale

Emmaleigh Anita Huston University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

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Recommended Citation Huston, Emmaleigh Anita, "Power Through Patronage: Examining Margaret of Navarre's Political Influence Through Sicily's Cathedral of Monreale" (2021). Theses and Dissertations. 2675. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/2675

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. POWER THROUGH PATRONAGE:

EXAMINING MARGARET OF NAVARRE’S POLITICAL INFLUENCE THROUGH

SICILY’S CATHEDRAL OF MONREALE

by

Emmaleigh Anita Huston

A Thesis Submitted in

Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

in Art History

at

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

May 2021

ABSTRACT

POWER THROUGH PATRONAGE: EXAMINING MARGARET OF NAVARRE’S POLITICAL INFLUENCE THROUGH SICILY’S CATHEDRAL OF MONREALE

by

Emmaleigh Anita Huston

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2021 Under the Supervision of Professor Richard Leson

This paper considers evidence for Queen Margaret of Sicily’s role in the construction and decoration of the Cathedral of Monreale, a royal foundation initiated c. 1172. For Margaret, support of Monreale was a means to counter the political ambitions of Walter Ophamil,

Archbishop of Palermo. Medieval chroniclers name Margaret’s son, William II, as primary patron, and afford her only a minor role in the building campaign. However, the furnishing and decoration of the cathedral’s northern transept—a privileged space typically reserved for kings in royal Sicilian cathedrals and chapels yet at Monreale serves as the site of Margaret’s tomb— points to the queen’s active role at the Cathedral. An ensemble of six early-Christian female saints unique to Monreale appears opposite Margaret’s tomb. This research posits that these images functioned as a monumental devotional icon tailored to the interests of the queen. The vitae of each saint is read against the life of the queen, and, in the case of two of the six holy women, a strategic donation to Monreale made by the queen herself.

ii © Copyright by Emmaleigh Huston, 2021 All Rights Reserved

iii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ...... ii

List of Figures ...... v

Acknowledgements ...... viii

Introduction ...... 1

Chapter I Historiography ...... 6

Chapter II Margaret’s Sicily: A Historical Context ...... 21

Chapter III Monreale: A Strategic Commission ...... 37

Chapter IV Funerary Arrangement and Six Female Saints ...... 48

Epilogue ...... 85

Figures...... 88

Bibliography ...... 112

iv LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 0.1 Reliquary Pendant with Queen Margaret of Sicily Blessed by Bishop Reginald of Bath (1174-77). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY ...... 88

Figure 0.2 Photograph of the western entrance of the Cathedral of Monreale in Palermo, Sicily ...... 88

Figure 0.3 Plan of the Cathedral of Monreale with circled northern transept. Image from Duncan-Flower’ dissertation, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study in their Monastic and Funerary Contexts” (1994) ...... 89

Figure 2.1 Christ Crowning King Roger II. Mosaic located in the narthex at Martorana (Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio) in Palermo, Sicily, dated c.1150s ...... 90

Figure 2.2 Tombstone for Anne, Mother of Grisandus (Cleric of Roger II). This tombstone, dated to 1149, is an excellent visual expression of the multicultural state of Roger II’s Sicily. The tombstone includes inscriptions in Judeo-Arabic, Greek, Latin, and Arabic. Image from the Sarah MacAllan’s (University of Adelaide) article in the ANU Historical Journal II, Number 1 titled “Object study—The Tombstone of Anne: A study on multilingualism in twelfth century Sicily” (2019) ...... 90

Figure 3.1 Photograph of the western entrance of the Cathedral of Monreale in Palermo, Sicily ...... 91

Figure 3.2 Google Earth image showing proximity between Palermo and Monreale ...... 91

Figure 3.3 Photograph of Santa Maria de Maniace (today known as Il Castello di Nelson)...... 92

Figure 3.4 Google Earth image showing the location of Maniace relative to Palermo ...... 92

Figure 4.1 Image showing Margaret’s tomb in the context of the northern transept. Image from Wolfgang Krönig’s The Cathedral of Monreale and the Norman Architecture in Sicily (1965) ...... 93

Figure 4.2 Photograph of Margaret’s tomb...... 94

Figure 4.3 Plate depicting the northern wall of the northern transept. Image accessed via Borsook’s Messages in Mosaics (1990) ...... 94

v

Figure 4.4 Photograph of the western entrance of the Cathedral of Cefalù, Cefalù, Sicily ...... 95

Figure 4.5 Plan of the Cappella Palatina (Palermo, Sicily) that distinguishes the location of the northern transept’s “royal box.” Image accessed from Mathilde Sauquet’s Roger II, King of Heaven and Earth: An Iconological and Architectural Analysis of the Cappella Palatina in the Context of Medieval Sicily (2018)...... 95

Figure 4.6 Holy Women, Image from Duncan-Flower’ dissertation, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study in their Monastic and Funerary Contexts” (1994) ...... 96

Figure 4.7 Holy Women (figure 4.6) superimposed with photographs of each saint/pair of saints ...... 97

Figure 4.8 Sinai Icon, Six Saints (c. 1187). Image accessed from Weitzman’s Icon Painting in the Crusader Kingdom (1166) ...... 98

Figure 4.9 Plan of Monreale’s northern transept with circled numbers showing the placements of female saints. Image accessed via Borsook’s Messages in Mosaics (1990) ...... 99

Figure 4.10 Mosaic of Saint Margaret. Northern transept, Cathedral of Monreale. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010)...... 100

Figure 4.11 Mosaic of Saint Margaret. Cappella Palatina. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010) ...... 101

Figure 4.12 Mosaic of Saint Radegonde. North transept, Cathedral of Monreale. 16th c. restoration. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010) ...... 102

Figure 4.13 Empress Zoe Mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, ca. 1142 ...... 103

Figure 4.14 Empress Helen in Byzantine dress, Hermitage of Saint Neophyte, Cyprus, ca. 1192 ...... 103

Figure 4.15 Saint Radegund, Cappella Palatina, Palermo, ca. 1140. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010) ...... 104

vi

Figure 4.16 Saint Radegund brought before Chlothar from Vie de Sainte Radegonde, B.M. Poitiers, ms. 250, fol. 31v (c. 1101). Images accessed via La Médiathèque François-Mitterrand & Son Réseau (Poitiers) ...... 105

Figure 4.17 Saint Radegund brought before Chlothar (detail) from Vie de Sainte Radegonde, B.M. Poitiers, ms. 250, fol. 31v (c. 1101). Images accessed via La Médiathèque François- Mitterrand & Son Réseau (Poitiers) ...... 106

Figure 4.18 Photograph of the Church of Saint Radegund at Poitiers ...... 106

Figure 4.19 Mosaic of Saint Julitta and Saint Quiriacus. North transept, Cathedral of Monreale. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010) ...... 107

Figure 4.20 Mosaic of Saint Restituta. North transept, Cathedral of Monreale. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010) ...... 108

Figure 4.21 Google Earth image showing Lacco Ameno on the coast of Ischia ...... 109

Figure 4.22 Map of southern Italy during the reign of Roger II, including the Principality of Capua ...... 109

Figure 4.23 Mosaic of Saint Catherine. North transept, Cathedral of Monreale. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010) ...... 110

Figure 4.24 Mosaic of Saint Venera. North transept, Cathedral of Monreale. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010) ...... 111

vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This thesis would not have been possible without the support and assistance of the

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Department of Art History. I am extraordinarily grateful for my time in the department. I would specifically like to express my thanks to Dr. Richard

Leson for his advisement, enthusiasm, and kindness throughout this process. I would also like to thank both Dr. Tanya Tiffany for her guidance and input as I began this research, and Dr. Lisa

Mahoney for her enthusiasm in serving as this thesis’ second reader. This research would not exist as it does today— or have the potential to continue—without the support of my teachers, to whom I am tremendously thankful.

viii INTRODUCTION

Margaret of Navarre’s (figure 0.1) considerable political influence during her regency as

Queen of Sicily (1166—71) and in the decade that followed (1172—83) has long been neglected by chroniclers of medieval history. Her narrative shaped by centuries of patriarchal biases, the queen is often cast in a primarily ceremonial role, her worth beginning and ending with her ability to provide male heirs to the Norman-Hauteville throne. Such a limited evaluation, one that thoroughly denies Margaret’s individualism and strategic, administrative mind, also denies twenty-first-century scholars a more accurate understanding of twelfth-century Sicilian politics.

As few primary sources exist to attest to the queen’s political influence during her regency, this research will focus on the Cathedral of Monreale (figure 0.2) as an important but understudied example of Margaret’s patronage. The Cathedral of Monreale, a royal commission begun c. 1172, offers diverse points of insight into the continuing influence of Queen Margaret at a time when the court was enveloped in a transitional period between Margaret’s regency and the majority of her son, William II (r. 1171—89).1 Historians of the Cathedral—both contemporary and modern—generally accept William II as Monreale’s primary patron, either affording

Margaret a brief mention or omitting her entirely from the building’s conception and design.

However, it is questionable whether the newly independent William II would have had the motivation to propose, much less execute, an architectural commission as grandiose and politically relevant as Monreale on his own.

Monreale’s conception was, in many ways, one of the most politically strategic architectural commissions undertaken in twelfth-century Sicily. In this thesis, I suggest that the

1 This date range refers to the period following Margaret’s regency. William II’s reign can also be relayed as 1166— 1189, though this disregards his Margaret’s time in power from 1166—1171.

1 cathedral was a tool designed to divert power away from the ambitious Archbishop of Palermo,

Walter Ophamil, who sought to consolidate his authority over the Norman-Sicilian monarchy by subsequently reorganizing the royal inner council, populating the familiares regis with sycophants sympathetic to his anti-monarchial cause. To combat Ophamil’s ever-increasing ambition, this research posits that Queen Regent Margaret was instrumental in the foundation of

Monreale, a royal structure that, due to Margaret’s careful planning, would eventually become an

Archbishopric that rivaled the power of Ophamil’s jurisdiction as Archbishop of nearby Palermo.

It was in this way that Margaret was able to recharge a monarchy that had, during the reign of her husband William I, become increasingly weak, subject to baronial and bishopric manipulation. Though few primary source documents survive, those that are available for analysis point to the Queen Regent’s stratagem as relates to Monreale’s foundation.

Visual elements within the northern transept of the Cathedral of Monreale also point to the queen as the mind behind the building. Through a close examination of the decoration of the

Cathedral’s northern transept (figure 0.3)—the site of Margaret’s tomb—this thesis positions

Margaret as primary patron of the structure. Monreale’s timely sponsorship, physical funerary composition, and inclusion of specific female saints act as mechanisms by which to view the

Queen’s efforts to tip the scales in favor of the monarchy to be led by her son, William II.

Chapters

This research begins with a historiographic survey that examines scholarly arguments made about Sicily’s Cathedral of Monreale, particularly those related to the issue of patronage.

Also considered are histories of the Sicilian monarchy, first-hand accounts of courtly life in twelfth-century Palermo (Falcandus), and research pertaining to decorative schemes in Sicily’s medieval structures (such as the Cappella Palatina and the Cathedral of Cefalù). Chapter I is

2 organized chronologically with works originating from the twelfth to twenty-first centuries, and includes myriad studies ranging from art-historical to economic.

Chapter II, titled “Margaret’s Sicily: A Historical Context,” is divided into three parts, beginning with a section devoted to the later reign of King Roger II, father of Margaret’s husband, William I. The next section moves from the reign of Roger II to the reign of William I

(1154—66), with an emphasis on the weakness of the new king relative to his highly effective father and predecessor and the internal struggles that developed as a consequence of his inexperience. The chaos created during the reign of William I defined the trials of Margaret’s regency and is therefore essential to address in order to properly contextualize Sicily from 1166-

71. The final section of Chapter II focuses on Margaret’s regency, a period of five years that culminated in a power struggle between the monarchy and Walter Ophamil, ultimately leading to the foundation of Monreale, the focus of Chapter III.

The third chapter, titled, “Monreale: A Strategic Commission,” explores the foundation of Monreale, with emphasis on surviving charters that link the queen with the structure’s establishment. This chapter delves into twelfth-century ecclesiastic politics and examines the ways in which Margaret was able to navigate Sicily’s established episcopal framework. For example, this chapter considers Margaret’s foundation of the abbey of Santa Maria de’ Maniace and this structure’s importance to the Charter of 1174 (one of the few surviving primary source documents pertinent to this research). Examining the Charter of 1174 reveals Margaret’s intention for Monreale to control a large enough jurisdiction that it might eclipse in power the bishopric of Palermo (controlled by Walter Ophamil). Papal bulls are also examined in this chapter, as Pope Alexander III’s support of the Sicilian monarchy was instrumental in

Monreale’s successful reorganization of power in Palermo.

3 The final chapter of this thesis, “Funerary Arrangement and Six Female Saints,” is focused on the visual elements within Monreale that point to Margaret’s involvement in it’s foundation. Beginning with funerary arrangement, Chapter IV analyzes the queen’s burial location in the northern transept and compares this designation of space with funerary precedence in other Sicilian structures such as the Cappella Palatina and the Cathedral of Cefalù.

There is evidence to support that the northern transept carried a connotation of kingship, as

Roger II had specifically designated the Cathedral of Cefalù’s northern transept as the location of his sarcophagus. This chapter explores Margaret’s placement in the northern transept, and discusses the likelihood that she chose the space for herself, rather than for her late-husband or son (both kings who were buried in the southern transept rather than the northern transept of

Monreale) as a testament to her involvement in the structure’s foundation.

The second section of Chapter IV analyzes the extraordinary selection of saint’s opposite

Margaret’s tomb. Here, the queen’s interests are given clear expression as the female saints of the northern transept provide insight into her personal history and sense of self. Individually, some of the early Christian female saints described in Monreale were included in other Norman church buildings, particularly the Capella Palatina commissioned by Roger II. However, here they exist as an ensemble unique to Monreale. Placed opposite the final resting place of Margaret these saints are indicative of personal selection, and speak not only to Margaret’s direct involvement with Monreale’s foundation, but to her personal wishes and interests. This chapter provides visual and hagiographic analysis for each saint, and connects each vitae with Margaret’s own life. Importantly, two of the six saints may directly reference concessions from the Charter of 1174, strengthening claims of the queen’s patronage. This chapter also considers the six saints

4 as a sort of monumental icon; a personal, devotional object directly relating to the intended occupant of the royal space.

The goal of this research is to collect and present visual evidence within the Cathedral of

Monreale that points towards the queen’s influence in its foundation and decoration. I believe that this research makes a contribution to our understanding of queenly regency and power dynamics within medieval kingdoms. Furthermore, this research is an opportunity to elucidate the extent of Margaret of Navarre’s political influence, which, like that of most medieval women, has gone virtually unrecognized for centuries.

5 CHAPTER I HISTORIOGRAPHY

The purpose of this chapter is to collect and examine earlier scholarly arguments regarding Margaret of Navarre and the foundation of the Cathedral of Monreale. The majority of medieval and early modern literature attributes the cathedral’s conception to King William II, who turned eighteen and officially came of age in 1171, a year prior to the start of Monreale’s construction. In contrast, recent art-historical literature questions William’s role as primary patron, a line of questioning this thesis intends to pursue further. Due to a lack of research focused solely on the queen, this historiography features studies that, while all centered around the topic of twelfth-century Sicily, cover a variety of topics; from first-hand accounts of the

Norman-Hauteville court, to twentieth-century essays on the administrative and economic intricacies that are integral to an understanding of Margaret’s regency. By careful examination of past research, one can isolate trends regarding the way Margaret is discussed in the textual record.

Textual Survey: Twelfth to Twenty-First Century Literature

The most important medieval source pertinent to this thesis is The History of The Tyrants of Sicily by ‘Hugo Falcandus’ (1154–69), an account that originates from within the Norman court of Sicily.2 Falcandus’ use of technical, courtly jargon and his intimate knowledge of court

2 Both the authorship and dating are questionable, as surviving medieval manuscripts offer little to corroborate the name “Hugo Falcandus,” a moniker that appears in literature for the first time in a printed edition of The History produced in Paris circa 1550. Loud and Wiedemann state that the editor of the 1550 Parisian copy “wrote that the binding of the manuscript which he used for this edition was perished and rotten…the name Hugo Falcandus [could have] resulted from a misreading of a damaged inscription or title…” Regardless, the original text allows for speculation as to the author’s education and place in the hierarchy of Sicilian politics. The original volume was composed in Latin, suggesting a learned author of the same educational caliber as his English contemporary John of Salisbury of which more is known. I have relied upon the recent edition, with annotations and translations, by Graham A. Loud and Thomas Wiedemann. Hugo Falcandus, The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by 'Hugo Falcandus': 1154-69, trans. Graham A. Loud and Thomas Wiedemann (Manchester, UK: Manchester Univ. Press, 1998).

6 personages and offices suggests he was himself a member of the Norman court during part of

Margaret’s regency.3 If this is accurate—and there is no reason to dispute it—the value of The

History as a primary source is clear: though highly biased, it remains the principal account of

Sicilian courtly life and controversy for the period in question.4

References to Margaret of Navarre in Falcandus’ work are rare, though she does appear following the author’s account of King William I’s death in 1166. Falcandus stated that on his deathbed the king summoned Margaret and the “great men of his court” to his side and decreed that the queen was “to undertake the care and administration of the entire realm…until the boy

[William II] should reach such discretion as would be thought sufficient to govern affairs wisely.”5 With his trademark disdain for the monarchy, Falcandus portrayed the early years of

Margaret’s subsequent regency as fraught with internal struggles, the queen constantly working to extract loyalty from Palermo’s noblemen by “any means necessary”.6 Furthermore, the chronicler labeled the monarch as “depressed in spirit” and emotionally fragile, though no explanation is given for her alleged despondency. Instead of citing her late husband’s administrative failures, Falcandus treated the queen’s perceived emotions as the primary causation for the troubles of the realm she inherited. He did not regard court-political

3 Hugo Falcandus, The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by 'Hugo Falcandus': 1154-69, trans. Graham A. Loud and Thomas Wiedemann (Manchester, UK: Manchester Univ. Press, 1998), pp. 29. 4 Falcandus’ striking bias is evident even in the title of the work. Through the name of his volume, The History of the Tyrants of Sicily, Falcandus worked to label those in power in twelfth century Sicily as inherently tyrannical. The subtext of this labelling is reflected in the tone of Falcandus, who writes of the royal family and court with great disdain. As stated in the text’s 1998 introduction by G.A. Loud and Thomas Wiedemann, “‘Falcandus’ (whoever he was) is a patently prejudiced and partisan witness, who loathed most of the people whose actions he described, and roundly denigrated their every deed and motive. The factual framework employed by our author may be perfectly true, and many of the details he provides are confirmed by other sources, but the interpretation which he placed upon them is such that The History must be treated with more than usual critical attention.” Ibid, pp. 1. 5 Ibid, pp. 137. 6 “First she ordered all the prisons to be opened, and set free a great number of men, both in Sicily and the surrounding islands. Then she decreed that the unbearable burden of redemption fees […] should be entirely abolished.” Ibid, pp. 139.

7 circumstances in his evaluation of the queen, nor did he acknowledge the queen’s constant struggle to control the nobles her late husband had failed to mollify.

Though Falcandus did not mention Monreale in this text (construction of the cathedral dates to c. 1172, while Falcandus’ text chronicles events until 1169), he did briefly reference the relationships amongst Margaret, her son William II, and the Archbishop of Palermo, Walter

Ophamil. These dynamics greatly influenced the inception of Monreale, and therefore aid in critically analyzing the patronage of the cathedral. Falcandus stated that, due to the queen’s lack of “emotional control” following the death of a trusted adviser in 1169, “the supreme power in the realm and control of its affairs was in the hands of Archbishop Walter of Palermo [Walter

Ophamil]…to an extent that he seemed to be in control not so much of the court as of the king himself.”7 This statement contradicts what is believed by scholars to be a primary motivation for the construction of Monreale: the cathedral was, in many ways, a strategic device meant to divert power away from the ambitious Archbishop of Palermo, Walter Ophamil. Ophamil sought to consolidate his authority by any means, and while his manipulation of the royal inner council will be discussed further in this thesis, it is worth mentioning that his efforts included expanding his jurisdiction as archbishop by rebuilding the Cathedral of Palermo. If the Archbishop’s control over William II in 1169 was as strong as Falcandus suggested, it would seem unlikely for the young king to patronize a competing structure, one that rivaled the jurisdiction of Palermo’s archbishopric, only three years later. This is, however, merely speculation as Falcandus’ records do not go beyond 1169.

7 The death of said counselor will be addressed further in chapter II as the death was a direct result of conspiracy within the court. Again, abbreviate the primary source citation. Hugo Falcandus, The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by 'Hugo Falcandus': 1154-69, trans. Graham A. Loud and Thomas Wiedemann (Manchester, UK: Manchester Univ. Press, 1998), pp. 218.

8 Despite Falcandus’ clear partisanship, The History of the Tyrants of Sicily offers an invaluable look at the conspiratorial nature of the medieval Sicilian court and has remained a key resource for modern historians seeking to analyze twelfth-century Sicily. In contrast to

Falcandus’ treatment of the queen, modern sources increasingly credit Margaret as an important political proponent and competent regent. However, this is certainly a slowly evolving trend given that many Sicilian histories from the mid-twentieth century either afford Margaret only a brief mention or dismiss her from their narrative entirely. Such is the case in both A History of

Sicily: Medieval Sicily 800-1713 (1968) by Denis Smith and, of the same year, Sicily: The

Garden of the Mediterranean by Francis M. Guercio.8

Smith’s A History of Sicily communicates the “disintegration” of the Norman state in

Sicily between the reigns of Roger II and his son William I, focusing on the governments as ruled by each king.9 Margaret’s regency is afforded a page and a half. The author’s preoccupation with accusations of Margaret’s nepotism betrays an uncritical acceptance of

Falcandus, as does his description of Margaret as weak and an easy target for insatiable barons.10 The author eschewed Margaret in favor of the antics of the men who surrounded her, namely the aforementioned Walter Ophamil, whom the author regarded in a laudatory tone.

Monreale, for its part, is barely mentioned in Smith’s chronicle. Besides a short list of the

8 Both published in 1968, these two histories include chapters that focus specifically on the Norman conquest of Sicily and the period of Margaret’s regency (1166–71). 9 William I, who would be posthumously deemed “William the Bad,” was in many ways a foil to his father, Roger II. Sicily under Roger II was a “meeting place of cultures” characterized by a degree of tolerance towards diversity unknown in other European kingdoms. Roger II was, by all accounts, an excellent administrator and diplomat. In contrast, William I was a relatively absent monarch, spending more time in Palermo’s harems than in political contexts. This will be addressed in chapter II. Denis Mack Smith, A History of Sicily: Medieval Sicily, 800-1713 (New York, New York: Viking Press, 1968), pp. 31. 10 One example being Stephen of Perche, the queen’s French cousin and chief minister. While nepotism is apparent here, it was in no way a new concept to monarchal systems. With barons rallying against her in the wake of her husband’s careless leadership, it seems logical that the queen would reach out for familial allies to act as her ministers. This could very well be a source of Falcandus’ disdain.

9 various stylistic influences of the cathedral’s interior, discussion of Monreale is limited to the following:

The building of this huge abbey [of Monreale], as well as the Arabic-type palaces called the Cuba and the

Zisa with their artificial lakes [...] indicates the considerable wealth of Sicily and the concentration of this

wealth in the King’s hands.11

Here Smith neglected to address any political or religious context pertaining to Monreale, instead attributing the structure and it’s accompanying economic contributions to William II alone.

Francis M. Guercio’s Sicily: The Garden of the Mediterranean (1968) is almost identical to Smith’s A History of Sicily, though Guercio’s text neglects to mention Margaret of Navarre altogether. On the transition of power from William I to William II, Guercio simply stated,

“William I died in 1166 and was succeeded by his son, William II, called ‘the Good’…”12

Margaret and her regency are nowhere in Guercio’s text, an omission that implies William II immediately took over rule of Sicily in 1166 at the age of twelve. Furthermore, Monreale is addressed only through a photograph and a footnote; no visual or historical analysis is provided for one of the most important Sicilian monuments of the late twelfth century.

Stefano Giordano’s monograph, Monreale, the Cathedral and the Cloister (1978) is a visual source that offers high-quality images of both the exterior and interior features of the cathedral, with a focus on the mosaic programs throughout the nave. A brief description of the historical context of Monreale is also included, though similar to the work of Guercio,

Giordano’s monograph does not include any reference to Margaret. Significantly, images of the

11 Denis Mack Smith, A History of Sicily: Medieval Sicily, 800-1713 (New York, New York: Viking Press, 1968), pp. 43. 12 Francis M. Guercio, Sicily: The Garden of The Mediterranean: The Country and Its People (London, UK: Faber, 1968), pp. 46.

10 queen’s tomb within the structure are neglected in exchange for those of her husband and sons.13

Given the placement of Margaret’s tomb within the northern transept—a location once physically linked to the original palatial structure and a space typically reserved for the height of royalty in the Sicilian tradition—the omission of any reference to the queen’s final resting place is particularly glaring. This exclusion highlights the underlying tradition of accepting the narrative of William II as primary patron, despite his mother’s sarcophagus’ very significant— and arguably meaningful—placement within the structure.14

Among published, modern art-historical works, Otto Demus’ The Mosaics of Norman

Sicily (1988) signals an important shift in discussions of the patronage of Monreale. Demus’ text not only mentions Margaret but, for the first time, hints that she had more administrative talent than previously thought. In his survey of documents pertinent to episcopal jurisdiction and monarchial funding of the cathedral, Demus looked at Margaret’s establishment and subsequent donation of the monastery of Santa Maria de Maniace. On the economic concerns of Monreale

Demus wrote,

The foundation is first mentioned in a charter of Archbishop Nicholas of Messina, of March 1st, 1174, in

which the archbishop cedes the episcopal jurisdiction over [to the Bishop of Monreale], and the possessions

of the monastery of Sta. Maria de Maniace (erected by Queen Margaret, William II’s mother)…15

Margaret’s donation of a wealthy monastery’s possessions, especially a foundation so closely associated with the monarchy, provides circumstantial evidence for her more substantial involvement in the Monreale project. The queen’s donations to Monreale, along with her positive

13 Roger IV, Robert, Henry, and William II are all buried in Monreale 14 The royal connotation of the northern side of medieval structures is an extraordinarily important element to this research. It will be analyzed in-depth in a following chapter. Furthermore, while the omission of Margaret’s resting place is significant to this research, I believe that Giordano’s choice to leave it out of his monograph was merely a reflection of the established narrative of Monreale. Her resting place was not considered a focal point, because her role in the structure had not yet been directly investigated. 15 Otto Demus, The Mosaics of Norman Sicily (New York, New York: Hacker Art Books, 1988), pp. 91.

11 relationship with Pope Alexander III and the designation of Monreale’s monastery as super sanctum kuriacum (which placed the monastery directly under the jurisdiction of the papacy) points towards Monreale as an architectural stratagem meant to secure the monarchy’s economic and ecclesiastic power as William II took the throne.16

Demus also acknowledged William II’s age in conjunction with Monreale’s foundation, stating that “it must not be forgotten, however, that William was hardly more than eighteen years old when he embarked on the scheme of Monreale.”17 Demus did not delve much deeper into the young king’s age and inexperience; however, by acknowledging William II’s age at all Demus implicitly called into question the likelihood of his role as primary patron of Monreale.

Demus’ stylistic analysis of Monreale’s art and architectural features echoed the choices made in earlier monographs such as those produced by the aforementioned Giordano. Funerary elements related to Margaret are not addressed.18 Demus did devote a few sentences to the listing of six female saints in the northern transept (Margaret’s burial site) but did not investigate the significance of these “holy women” with respect to their location in the building; their identities in relation to both Margaret and each other are not discussed.19

Art historian Eve Borsook’s text Messages in Mosaic (1990) profits from Otto Demus’ earlier nods to the participation of Margaret.20 The book is a visual analysis of three distinct

Norman mosaic programs (the Cathedral of Cefalù, the Capella Palatina in Palermo, and the

Cathedral of Monreale), accompanied by sections on historical context prior to each visual study.

16 These observations take Demus’ discussion as a point of departure, specifically his description of Ophamil as the “main sufferer” of any transfer of monastic property to Monreale, as this undermined the bishop’s own ambitions in Palermo. Otto Demus, The Mosaics of Norman Sicily (New York, New York: Hacker Art Books, 1988), pp. 92. 17 Ibid, pp. 20. 18 Ironically, funerary elements related to Margaret are arguably the strongest pieces of supporting evidence of Margaret’s patronage. 19 Otto Demus, The Mosaics of Norman Sicily (New York, New York: Hacker Art Books, 1988), 118. 20 Messages in Mosaic is literally dedicated to Demus and his work. Eve Borsook, Messages in Mosaic: the Royal Programmes of Norman Sicily (1130-1187) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990).

12 Borsook began her historical overview of Monreale with the death of William I, noting a shift in administrative power into the hands of the new queen-regent. In the following pages Borsook echoed the statements of Demus in regard to Margaret’s positive relationship with Rome, stating that “the queen dowager did not have to contend with papal hostility [though] she was faced with feudal rivalry.”21 Borsook also illustrated Margaret’s disdain for Walter Ophamil. On the relationship Borsook wrote, “In 1169, in spite of the queen mother’s protests, he [Walter] became archbishop of Palermo and was subsequently a thorn in the side of the monarchy.”22

Although this is where the inclusion of Margaret ends in Borsook’s work, her presence in this fairly short historical overview is noteworthy, especially when viewed in contrast to earlier sources.23 Furthermore, Walter Ophamil is not regarded as an individual guiding the realm during a period of emotionally unstable leadership (as presented by Falcandus). Instead, he is portrayed as an adversary of the royal cause. This is an important change in the way the role of

Walter Ophamil is assessed in the scholarly literature: where previously he was regarded as an almost savior-like figure, here Borsook questioned the Archbishop’s intentions towards the monarchy and painted him as a manipulative actor.

In Hiroshi Takayama’s book The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily

(1993), the author studied the medieval Mediterranean through a strictly economic lens. After lauding the Norman administration of Sicily as “one of the greatest achievements of the Middle

Ages” and the “origin of modern governments,” Takayama organized his text through sections devoted to the fiscal and judicial activities of the Norman-Hauteville court.24 The author

21 Eve Borsook, Messages in Mosaic: the Royal Programmes of Norman Sicily (1130-1187) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990), pp. 51. 22 Ibid. 23 Analysis of Margaret ends here, save for a brief mention regarding her entombment in Monreale in 1183 (though the location of her sarcophagus is not touched upon) 24 Hiroshi Takayama, The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Leiden: Brill, 1993), pp. 11-26.

13 analyzed the reigns of Roger II, William I, and eventually William II, following Demus and

Borsook by attending to Margaret’s regency. Acknowledging William II’s youth at the time of his father’s death, Takayama wrote, “His [William I’s] successor was his twelve-year-old son

William II (1166–1189). During the minority of William II, Queen Margaret managed to govern the kingdom, supported by her entourage.”25 Takayama, however, focused on the queen’s counsellors and the internal squabbles between various familiars regis rather than on the queen herself, emphasizing the consistent administrative upheaval that occurred throughout the queen’s regency (a result, the author asserts, of William I’s ineffective leadership). Interestingly, the foundation of Monreale is ignored in Takayama’s research, a strange omission given his work’s concentration on fiscal, administrative events.

A source that has served as a main point of departure for this present thesis research is

Maggie Duncan-Flowers’ 1994 unpublished dissertation, “The mosaics of Monreale: A study of their monastic and funerary context” (University of Illinois at Urbana Champagne).26 This dissertation analyzes the imagery utilized in Monreale’s mosaic programs.27 Duncan-Flowers dedicated extensive sections of her research to the social and political context of Monreale’s foundation. In this matter she posited that Queen Margaret worked closely with her son on

Monreale’s commission, stating “It [Monreale] was founded by King William II and his mother

Queen Margaret of Navarre in 1174, and built and dedicated with great speed.”28 The author did

25 Hiroshi Takayama, The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Leiden: Brill, 1993), pp. 8. 26 Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts” (dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994), https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078, pp. 83. 27 Especially in relation to Marian and Benedictine precedents. 28 Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts” (dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994), https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078, pp. 83. It is worth noting that1174 refers to a papal bull issued by Alexander III recognizing Monreale; construction was actually started in 1172.

14 not explicitly name William II as sole patron—as the medieval and early modern sources do— but instead linked the two, leaving the precise patronage dynamic of mother and son open to further question. Duncan-Flowers’ work is thus important as the first to attribute the foundation of Monreale to William and Margaret as a pair.

Hagiographies, particularly those of the six “holy women” pictured in the northern transept mosaics, were considered by Duncan-Flowers with respect to “the character of a church and its patrons.”29 Monreale, Duncan-Flowers asserted, offers a distinctive set of hagiographies relative to other Norman-Sicilian churches; only one third of the saints featured in Monreale are prefigured in the cathedrals of Cefalù and the Cappella Palatina. The author touched on the female saints of the northern transept, briefly applying their various attributes to Margaret’s personal life, a line of inquiry that this research will examine further.30

Published in Catania by Sicilian historian Antonino Iacono, Storia di Sicilia: dalla preistoria ai nostri giorni (2001), provides an overview of the island from the fifth millennium

BCE to the twenty-first century CE.31 This extensive volume, compiled of 70 chapters, is relatively concise to accommodate the amount of time covered. Nonetheless, Iacono included far more information on Margaret than past historians and presented the information in a manner that favors the queen. Margaret is first cited in Iacono’s work at the event of her husband’s death.

Like those before him, Iacono shared the anecdote taking place at William I’s deathbed in which the dying king stated his intent to leave the throne to his son William, “under the tutelage of his

29 Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts” (dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994), https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078, pp. 83. 30 Ibid, pp. 80-89, 186-190. Duncan-Flowers discussion of the female saints mainly concerns their relationship to larger Marion and Benedictine themes that she identifies elsewhere in the cathedral’s decoration. 31 Antonino Iacono, Storia Di Sicilia: Dalla Preistoria Ai Nostri Giorni (Catania, Italia: Boemi, 2001), pp. 138.

15 mother, the queen.”32 Iacono proceeded to credit Margaret’s regency with a multitude of administrative strategies otherwise ignored by previous scholars. On her time in power Iacono wrote,

In the beginning of [William II’s] government, the Queen called home those who had been exiled [by

William I] and returned to them the assets that had been confiscated by the late king; Those who had been

unjustly imprisoned were freed from the prisons of Palermo and from the adjacent islands; The debts owed

to the treasury were pardoned and a tax, odious to the people, was abolished in the city of Puglia. The

Queen worked with Pope Alexander III to pacify the kingdom. This peace made all possessions safe from

the threatened invasion of Frederick Barbarossa.33

This account of Margaret’s accomplishments during her regency credits the queen with many significant administrative acts that intentionally reversed policies put in place during the ineffective reign of her husband. Furthermore, Iacono’s passage addresses the relationship between the Queen and Pope Alexander III, an affiliation that protected the region from the burgeoning threat posed by the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa.34

While Antonino Iacono’s Storia di Sicilia provides a more broad, historical context of

Sicily, the Companion to Medieval Palermo (2013) delves deep into niche topics pertaining to much more manageable periods. Described as a “panorama of the history of Medieval Palermo from the sixth to the fifteenth century,” the text offers topic-specific contributions by a number of medievalists.35 Most pertinent to this chapter is an essay titled “Monreale from its Origin to

32 “Lasciò erede al trono il figlio Guglielmo sotto la tutela della madre, Margherita.” Antonino Iacono, Storia Di Sicilia: Dalla Preistoria Ai Nostri Giorni (Catania, Italia: Boemi, 2001), pp. 138. 33 “In principio del suo governo la Regina richiamò in patria I fuoriusciti ai quali furono restituiti i loro beni che erano stati confiscate; furono liberate dale carceri di Palermo e dale isole adiacenti quanti vi erano stati rinchiusi ingiustamente; furono condonati I debiti che si dovevano all’erario e fu abolita, nelle città delle Puglie, una imposta, odiosissima al popolo, detta della redenzione. La Regina si adoperò per pacificare il regno con il papa, Alessandro III, pace che rese sicuri tutti i possedimenti dalla minacciata invasione di Federico Barbarossa.” Ibid, pp. 139. 34 This relationship, as previously discussed in the work of Otto Demus, has also been linked to Monreale’s designation as an Episcopal See. This designation will be discussed in chapter II. 35 Antonino Iacono, Storia Di Sicilia: Dalla Preistoria Ai Nostri Giorni (Catania, Italia: Boemi, 2001), pp. 138.

16 the End of the Middle Ages” by Sulamith Brodbeck. Brodbeck strove for objectivity in her report on Monreale, working to provide a “historical account” of the structure with a focus on economics. Little opinion is given in the way of patronage, and William II is named primary patron. However, Brodbeck followed in the footsteps Otto Demus by analyzing the largest donation to Monreale: the monastery endowed and donated by Queen Margaret, Santa Maria de

Maniace. Furthermore, Brodbeck hinted at questions surrounding patronage stating, “One wonders to what extent the foundation of Monreale was linked to the unhappy reign of William

I, which was marked by revolts, and the turbulent regency of Margaret of Navarre.”36 Here,

Brodbeck highlighted the state of research as it relates to Monreale’s patronage. One does wonder what effect Margaret had on the structure’s foundation.

Though published for a broader audience, it is worth mentioning the accessible Sicily: An

Island at the Crossroads of History (2015) by John Julius Norwich. This is among the last works of a famous expert on medieval Sicily whose impressions of Margaret and William are worthy of attention, even if aimed at a more general readership than some of the other sources examined here.37 Norwich organized his history of Sicily chronologically, with chapters devoted to the various occupations of the island.38 In a chapter titled “The End of a Kingdom,” Norwich introduces his reader to Margaret in the context of her marriage. On William I’s treatment of his wife Norwich wrote, “he [William I] appeared after his succession to take little interest in her

[Margaret], or in the four sons she bore him.”39 This is notably one of the first occasions where

36 Martin Thom, Annliese Nef, and Sulamith Brodbeck, “Monreale from Its Origin to the End of the Middle Ages,” in A Companion to Medieval Palermo: the History of a Mediterranean City from 600 to 1500 (Leiden: Brill, 2013), pp. 383-413. 37 The volume is called a “valediction” by the then 85-year-old historian, who cites the island of Sicily as having provided the “beginning and quite possibly, the end” of his literary career. John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History (Random House, New York, 2015), pp. xv. 38 Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History covers from the Greeks circa 1400 BCE to the Second World War. 39John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History (Random House, New York, 2015), pp. 80.

17 Margaret’s life pre-regency is addressed. The next occurrence of Margaret follows, as in previous studies, at the death of her husband and her declaration as regent. However, Norwich broke from the mold when describing Margaret’s time in power, addressing her regency amidst anecdotal tales of her son.40 Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History, mixes editorialization with careful research, a method continued in this historiography’s final source, Margaret Queen of Sicily by Jacqueline Alio.

As the sole biography devoted to Margaret of Navarre, Jacqueline Alio’s 2016 Margaret

Queen of Sicily, is deserving of particular notice. It is the lengthiest scholarly, peer-reviewed monograph ever published in English by a historian based in Sicily. The oft-cited text boasts over 100 pages of appendices, Latin and Greek translations of letters and bulls, and excerpts from this historiography’s primary source, Falcandus. These academic aspects are coupled by an editorial tone taken by the author, who attempted to humanize the queen by hypothesizing her emotions, thought processes, and personal ambitions. This is mirrored in the work’s introduction, where it is stated,

Although Margaret is per forza mentioned in histories dealing with the reigns of William I and William II,

there exists no scholarly consensus of opinion about her regency. It is the author’s conviction, based on the

available evidence, that Queen Margaret was competent, courageous, and decisive.41

As in the work of Norwich, Alio’s biography—a text that works to “straddle two worlds, the popular and the scholarly”—is extensively researched and includes translated sources that

40 For example, on William II’s coronation day, an event subsequently coronating Margaret as regent, Norwich writes, “On the day appointed for his coronation, young William immediately won all hearts. Unlike his father, he was quite exceptionally good-looking. When, in Palermo Cathedral, the crown of Sicily was laid upon his head, and when, later, he rode in state to the royal palace, the golden circlet still gleaming on the long fair hair inherited from his Viking forebears, his subjects, we are told, could not contain their joy. Nonetheless, Queen Margaret knew that she would be hard put to maintain her position.” Ibid, pp. 86. 41 Jacqueline Alio, Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 7.

18 relate to both Margaret’s time in Sicily and her childhood in Pamplona.42 Furthermore,

Margaret, Queen of Sicily, briefly addresses the issue of Monreale’s female saints and the queen’s donations to the cathedral’s foundation. Despite risking romanticizing medieval personages, Alio’s text aides in the understanding of the queen as an individual. The author’s focus on Margaret as a politician supports the idea that Margaret was far more powerful and influential than previously believed or asserted by scholars.

In summary, it is clear from this survey that the scholarly approach to Margaret and

Monreale has developed a great deal since the twelfth-century records of Falcandus, a chronicler whose tendency to belittle and ignore the queen regent was a commonality he shared with many other medieval authors in their treatment towards women in positions of great temporal power.

Fortunately, twentieth and twenty-first century developments—particularly those geared towards gender inclusivity—have led scholars to consider the possible contributions of powerful women to the history of art and architecture in a way that earlier authors were not predisposed to do.

This is evident in the work of Otto Demus, whose analysis of documentary evidence introduces

Margaret to the discussion of Monreale, marking a new willingness to recognize the queen’s role in studies of the structure. Furthering this emphasis on Margaret is Maggie Duncan-Flowers’ dissertation. While Duncan-Flowers’ work does not link visual analysis within Monreale’s northern transept with Margaret’s political intentions or set out to identify Margaret as primary

42 Jacqueline Alio, Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 7.

19 patron, her dissertation is monumental in its attention to the queen.43 The study introduces

Margaret into an art-historical survey and provides a wealth of documentary evidence for further studies. Finally, Jacqueline Alio’s reverential biography epitomizes the relatively new desire to uncover the oft-discarded individuality of medieval women. The text’s prose examine the personal life of the queen through a wealth of research which is, in turn, applicable to this visual study of Margaret’s presence within the cathedral.

Though undoubtedly gradual, the notion of Margaret’s involvement in the scheme of

Monreale (and in the administration of the kingdom in general) has slowly become a topic of scholarly research in its own right. Given progress towards focused research on Margaret’s role as queen regent, it is now possible to address Monreale’s northern transept and to think more clearly about the possibilities of her patronage within that space.

43 How Duncan-Flowers understood the patronage dynamic at work between mother and son is unclear. On the subject of the cathedral’s endowment , for example, she observes: “He [William II] developed an indirect strategy to solve the problem [of Walter Ophamil’s power]—the foundation of Monreale, a royal episcopal monastery to rival the power and prestige of the see of Palermo…Extraordinary [lists] of gifts and privileges bestowed on Monreale during the reign of King William suggests that from the beginning he was carefully and patiently implementing a policy in which the abbot of Monreale would supersede all other ecclesiastical authorities on the island.” The above may suggest at least a tacit acceptance of earlier claims that credit William as the main catalyst behind the cathedral’s construction. Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts” (dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994), https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078, pp. 83.

20 CHAPTER II MARGARET’S SICILY: A POLITICAL CONTEXT

Sicily as encountered by Margaret of Navarre in the mid-twelfth century was, in many ways, a multicultural outlier in the patchwork of kingdoms that made up medieval Europe.44

With a history punctuated by frequent conquest, the island’s medieval distinction as an economic powerhouse was largely indebted to its years as the Emirate of Sicily (871-1072), and although the Normans undoubtedly held the seat of power on the island by 1091, their successive administrations—beginning with that of Count Roger I—displayed a cognizance of the diversity of their new subjects, and a willingness to accommodate these populations in order to avoid potential uprisings.45 This relative tolerance, while far from a total embrace of diversity, was still remarkable by twelfth-century standards and was continued politically and culturally in the court of Count Roger I’s heir, King Roger II (figure 2.1). The reign of Roger II set a precedent for his successors, and while his son William I is often portrayed as having regarded his father’s court as little more than his own personal harem, Margaret’s time as regent displayed an approach to governance akin to that of her father-in-law’s in the wake of her husband’s ineffective reign.46

44 For useful accounts of pre-Norman history, see the following: Firas Alkhateed. Lost Islamic History: Reclaiming Muslim Civilization from the Past (Hurst & Company, 2017). Jacob Abadi. Tunisia since the Arab Conquest: the Saga of a Westernized Muslim State, Section: “Conquests and Foreign Policy of the Aghlabids” (Ithaca Press, 2013), pp. 51-55. P. M. Holt et al., “The Iberian Peninsula And Sicily,” in The Cambridge History of Islam (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1970), pp. 406-439. Ian Hughes, Belisarius - the Last Roman General (Yardley , PA: Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2014). Jacqueline Alio, “Kingdom ,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 67-75. William Tronzo, The Cultures of His Kingdom: Roger II and the Cappella Palatina in Palermo (Princeton University Press, 1997). 45 Although the Emirate of Sicily was overthrown in 1072, various Muslim strongholds remained until 1091 when the city of Noto was seized by Norman mercenaries. Salah Zaimeche, “Muslim Heritage,” Muslim Heritage (Foundation for Science, Technology, and Civilisation, 2004), https://muslimheritage.com/uploads/Sicily1.pdf. 46 Jacqueline Alio, “Polyglot Realm ,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 99-111. William Tronzo, The Cultures of His Kingdom: Roger II and the Cappella Palatina in Palermo (Princeton University Press, 1997).

21 The following discussion analyzes the political context of Sicily under its first Norman king and his successor with a particular focus on how the island’s diversity influenced administrative structure and law. In contrast to that of his father, William I’s reign was characterized by administrative weaknesses and was fraught with internal conspiracies. This turmoil had to be confronted by Margaret during her regency and is therefore important to understand in order to grasp the state of the kingdom from 1166-1171. The following will elucidate how the reign of Roger II became a model of effective rule that Margaret would emulate during her time in power; his administrative legacy, largely ignored during his son’s time as king, was consistently called upon during his daughter-in-law’s regency.

The First King of Sicily: Roger II (r. 1130-1152)

Roger II’s kingdom of Sicily, an endowment beholden to the count-turned-king’s support of Antipope Anacletus II during the papal election of 1130, was characterized by attempts to promote a diverse yet unified populace under the law.47 During the reign of Roger II’s father,

Count Roger I, a similar tolerance defined the newly-conquered Norman domain.48 Though demographics on the island inevitably changed following the Norman conquest, the Count had maintained an Emirate-era stance on religious tolerance to appease a population that, at the time,

47 “Nel 1127 essendo morto il proprio nipote Guglielmo di Puglia, Ruggero II vanto il diritto alla successione e comincio a sottomettere i feudatari di quella regione fino a che il papa, Onorio II, nel 1128, lo investi duca di Puglia. Nel 1130 dal papa, Anacleto II, ottenne la corona di re di Sicilia, unitamente alla legittimazione di tutte le conquiste fatte da lui e da suo padre. Egli si obbligo a prestare giuramento di fedelta e a pagare ogni anno un tributo alla santa sede.” Antonino Iacono, Storia Di Sicilia: Dalla Preistoria Ai Nostri Giorni (Catania, Italia: Boemi, 2001), 139. 48 “The mosques—apart from the converted Christian churches, which were reconsecrated—remained open, as they always had been, for the prayers of the faithful. Islamic law was still dispensed by local courts. Arabic was declared an official language, on equal footing with Latin, Greek and Norman French. In local government, many provincial emirs were retained at their posts...Thus, over most of the island, the sullen resentment of the conquered people gradually faded as Roger won their confidence; and many of those who had fled to Africa or Spain came back within a year or two to Sicily and resumed their normal lives.” John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History (Random House, New York, 2015), 67. There is documentation of Roger’s funding of Greek monasteries, and Islamic structures were preserved in Sicilian cities. Jacqueline Alio, “Kingdom ,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 67-75.

22 comprised mostly Muslims, Greeks, and Jews (figure 2.2).49 Roger II’s reign embraced and enhanced the Norman stance on religious autonomy, as translated into Sicilian law through the

1140 Assizes of Ariano.50 More than simply an altruistic appeal to the island’s non-Christian majority, the propagation of the Assizes of Ariano aided in centralizing Roger II’s government and labeled the king as a strategically adept administrator.

Although Count Roger I permitted non-Christian worship to continue on the island following the Norman conquest—an allowance that certainly aided in curbing potential uprisings—the Count’s legal system was based on the laws of each individual religion and did little to support a centralized legal system.51 Therefore, inspired by the Code of Justinian, Roger

II promoted an overarching Sicilian legal standard through the Assizes of Ariano to further centralize royal power.52 The codices of the Assizes were punctuated by an adherence to equality in the eyes of the law, and while an impartiality was not entirely observed—the Catholic Church and Christian nobles enjoyed a slightly more lenient justice system as was typical in European kingdoms—barons and bishops were held responsible for their actions and were subject to the same laws as Arab, Greek, and Jewish Sicilians. So impactful was the legislative organization of

49 With the fall of Byzantine-occupied Syracuse in 878, the population of Sicily became predominately Muslim, though the Emirate notably allowed Christians to practice their religion following the payment of a tax called jaziya. Firas Alkhateeb, Lost Islamic History: Reclaiming Muslim Civilization from the Past (Hurst & Company: 2017). So here you’re reiterating some of the information from note 1, but it is clearly accomplishing something here. 50 Kenneth Pennington, “The Normans in Palermo: King Roger II’s Legislation” in The Haskins Society Journal 18: 2006 Studies in Medieval History (Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK; Rochester, NY, USA: Boydell & Brewer, 2007). Today two copies of the Assizes exist, the most complete held in the Vatican Apostolic Archives (Vat. lat. 8782, fol. 91r). 51 Citizens were judged by either Canon (Christian), Mailki (Sunni Islam), or Halakha (Jewish) law. Jacqueline Alio, “Polyglot Realm ,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 99 52 Ibid, 142. It is important to note Pennington’s assessment regarding the ambiguity of the original Assizes. There are some questions about the dating of the entire compilation, but it is recorded by Romuald of Salerno and Falco of Benevento that in 1140 a collection of laws and “enumerable acts” were propagated by Roger II in the city of Ariano.

23 Roger II’s kingdom that it has since been described as the most sophisticated legal structure promoted by any prince of the twelfth century.53

Further to the Assizes of Ariano, Roger II’s penchant for organization and inclusion extended to his court. As stated by Salah Zaimeche,

The impression given by his [Roger II’s] court was of a fusion of the most splendid aspects of

Byzantine and Islamic monarch display…at his court were a host of officials with Arabic titles,

the king’s cook being one; a significant circumstance which should not be overlooked…The qadi

[magistrate], retaining the insignia and authority of his original official employment, was an

important member of the Sicilian judiciary [and] was frequently the trusted advisor of the

monarch.54

Influenced by the preceding Emirate of Sicily, the Norman court under Roger II adapted

Arabic traditions as fit it’s needs; the king maintained a variety of Arabic administrative practices such as the royal treasury, naval hierarchical system, and royal bodyguard while preserving the Christian and Byzantine elements of the court established by his father, Count

Roger I. Roger II was aided by two of his father’s advisors, the Byzantine Orthodox Christians

Christodoulos and George of Antioch. The latter, an expert in Arabic economic systems who had served as a finance minister at the court of a Zirid lord in Mahdia, was exceedingly familiar with

Arabic court culture, and thus aided in the inclusion and maintenance of effective Arabic

53 See Kenneth Pennington, “The Normans in Palermo: King Roger II’s Legislation” in The Haskins Society Journal 18: 2006 Studies in Medieval History (Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK; Rochester, NY, USA: Boydell & Brewer, 2007). While many authors have waxed poetic about Roger II’s reign, Jacqueline Alio best summarizes his time in power: “Roger had proven himself a remarkable ruler. Not without reason, Sicily’s first king is cited by historians as a paragon of intellect, one of the greatest rulers of Europe’s High Middle Ages. He united southern Italy into a cohesive state while forming Sicily’s diversity of peoples into something resembling a single nation.” Jacqueline Alio, “Queen Consort,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Edition, 2016), pp. 119. 54 Ibid, pp 8. Cecilia Waern, Mediaeval Sicily: Aspects of Life and Art in the Middle Ages (Duckworth & co., 1910).

24 practices within Roger II’s administration.55 Roger II was also successful in subduing less-than- compliant Christian nobles—many of whom resented Roger’s tolerant attitude towards the non-

Christian population—by reorganizing the mainland aristocracy and promoting new counties in order to encourage both military and monarchial loyalty.56

Thus, through the promulgation of law, reorganization of noble power, and promotion of effective governing practices inherited from the Emirate-era Sicily, Roger II was able to maintain a generally peaceful kingdom during his twenty-two-year reign. The absence of major internal discontent allowed for the development of a culturally diverse court defined by intellectual advancement: under Roger II, Palermo became home to the foremost scholars of both Europe and the Arab world alike.57 This success is often attributed to what historian John Julius Norwich characterized as Roger II’s “insatiable intellectual curiosity and respect for learning unique among his fellow princes.”58 On the king’s desire for a court characterized by intellectualism, twelfth-century scholar Abu Abdullah Mohammad al-Edrisi wrote,

In mathematics as in the political sphere, the extent of [Roger’s] learning cannot be described. Nor is there

any limit to his knowledge of the sciences, so deeply and wisely has he studied them in every particular. He

55 Karen C. Britt, “Roger II of Sicily: Rex, Basileus, and Khalif? Identity, Politics, and Propaganda in the Cappella Palatina” in Mediterranean Studies 16 (Penn State University Press, 2007), pp. 21-45. Hubert Houben, Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler Between East and West (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007), pp. 30-40. Alex Metcalfe, Muslims and Christians in Norman Sicily: Arabic-Speakers and the End of Islam (New York, NY: Routledge, 2013). 56 It is important to note, however, that the king’s heavy-handed approach to controlling the nobility could not be matched by his successor, William I, whose lack of control over the nobility lead to the death of his son and heir in 1160. This will be addressed in the following section on William I. Graham A. Loud et al., The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by "Hugo Falcandus", 1153-69 (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998). 57 Kenneth Pennington, “The Normans in Palermo: King Roger II’s Legislation” in The Haskins Society Journal 18: 2006 Studies in Medieval History (Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK; Rochester, NY, USA: Boydell & Brewer, 2007). 58 John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History (New York, New York: Random House, 2015), 76.

25 is responsible for singular innovations and marvelous inventions, such as no prince has ever before

realized.59

Roger II’s intellect is further exemplified through his use of language. The king, who was fluent in Latin, Arabic, and Greek (reflecting the diversity of his kingdom), acknowledged the

Muslim majority of Sicily and promoted Arabic as the prevailing language within his purview— for much of his reign official documents were ordered to be written in Arabic rather than Latin, which allowed for a heightened level of engagement between both Christian and Arab members of the court. The learned character of Roger II defined his royal administration and court culture.

This, then, was the court that William II inherited, though he would not be able to sustain it throughout his reign.

A Transition of Power: William I (r. 1154-1166)

King Roger II’s reign ended with his death in 1154, the cause cited by Hugo Falcandus

(who praised the deeds of Roger II) as an “exhaustion from his immense labors, and the onset of a premature senility through his addiction to the pleasures of the flesh, which he pursued to a point beyond that which physical health requires.”60 Proceeded in death by his three eldest sons,

59John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History (New York, New York: Random House, 2015), 77. Abu Abdullah Mohammad al-Edrisi is an important figure in the scientific sphere of Roger’s court. One of Roger’s most influential commissions was the Tabula Rogeriana, a world map (and compilation of geographical information) that would later be used by explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama. The project was headed by Abu Abdullah Mohammad al-Edrisi, who spent over fifteen years working on the project. A book titled, “The Avocation of a Man Desirous of a Full Knowledge of the Different Countries of the World” (colloquially known simply as “The Book of Roger”) was produced to accompany the planisphere. Hubert Houben, Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler Between East and West (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007). 60 This quotation refers to the king’s adoption of a royal harem within his court, an Islamic institution the king and his successor would both become notoriously associated with. This translation is derived from Norwich’s Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History. John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History (Random House, New York, 2015), 78. A similar translation can be found in Loud’s The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by “Hugo Falcandus”: “...he himself surrendered to fate, overcome by early old age, both worn down by his immense efforts and more devoted to sexual activity than the body’s good health requires.” Graham A. Loud et al., The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by "Hugo Falcandus", 1153-69 (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998).

26 Roger II invested his only surviving heir, William I, as the second king of Sicily.61 William, who would later be described as “The Bad,” was in many ways set up for failure in the wake of his father’s reign: with little administrative experience he quickly fell under the influence of a slew of discarded nobles. Freed from the authoritative governance of Roger I, these nobles fomented internal violence and conspiracy.62 As such, William I was regarded by contemporaries with great disdain. As stated by Falcandus, a particularly harsh critic of the king’s,

[Prior to Roger I’s death] the kingdom of Sicily was rich in hard-working and famous men, had the greatest

power by land and sea, was feared by all the peoples round about, and enjoyed complete peace and all

possible tranquility. But after only a short time, all this tranquility slipped away and suddenly disappeared,

in such a way that you will easily comprehend that the fortune and conditions of kingdoms submits to the

character of their rulers, and you will have no doubt that the glory of any realm can be increased to the

same extent as you can identify virtue in its prince. [King William], the heir only to his father’s power and

not to his character...allowed the organization of the court (reformed by [Roger’s] efforts) to deteriorate.63

Indeed, William I’s administrative skills left much to be desired. The king, whose capacity to rule had been questioned prior to his coronation, was more partial to extramarital than administrative affairs. Though he experienced some early success with repelling the military

61 The deaths of Roger II’s three eldest children (Roger III, Duke of Apulia; Tancred, Duke of Bari; and Alfonso, Prince of Capua) greatly affected the fate of the monarchy. William I, Prince of Tarento, had enjoyed a leisurely adolescence: being so far removed from the throne, the prince received little of the same rigorous administrative education experienced by his older siblings (particularly Roger III and Alfonso, in whom Falcandus records “the image of their father’s virtue was reflected most truly”). While this is certainly an observation made by Falcandus and therefore should be regarded with his biases in mind, it is reiterated by other historians such as Norwich and Takayama. John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History (Random House, New York, 2015), 78. Hiroshi Takayama, The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Leiden: Brill, 1993), 65. 62 Most historians note that the epitaph ascribed to William I may not be entirely deserved—retrospect allows for an analysis of the circumstances surrounding William’s ascension to the throne, which in turn inspires a degree of empathy for the wholly unprepared monarch. For example, Norwich makes sure to emphasize William’s place in the line of succession; while the historian does call William “lazy and pleasure-loving”, he maintains that the second king of Sicily had, in contrast to his elder brothers, “never been groomed for greatness”. John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History (Random House, New York, 2015), 80. 63 Graham A. Loud et al., The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by "Hugo Falcandus", 1153-69 (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998), pp. 59-60.

27 advances of the papacy-backed Holy Roman Emperor, William’s disinterest in internal affairs and penchant for delegation was notorious. The king’s mismanagement of his court, for which he was admonished by Falcandus, was nowhere more evident than within William I’s inner council: power hungry and revolt-prone, the king’s counselors were motivated by personal interests rather than monarchial ones.64

William I’s familiares regis, or privy council, consisted of lay and ecclesiastic vassals who, according to Falcandus, essentially ruled Sicily with the king as their figurehead.65 Of these ministers, the most influential from the early years of William I’s reign was Maio of Bari, who held the office of amiratus amiratorum from 1154 until his assassination in 1160.66 Maio was, according to historian Hiroshi Takayama, “practically the ruler of the kingdom, for William only roused himself to play a fitful part in public affairs.”67 A far cry from the firm hand of Roger II, the new king had little authority over the schemes of the aristocracy, as exemplified through the eventual murder of his amiratus.

In 1159 Sicilian nobles previously subdued by Roger II conspired to take control of the wealth amassed within the palace treasury and depose of Maio. Their overarching goal was to weaken the internal workings of the monarchy and allow for the eventual dissemination of the

64 It is important to note that while William lacked tact when it came to internal affairs, he did find success militarily. As reported by Falcandus (and analyzed by Norwich), “[William I] was, as Falcandus reminds us, ‘a man who found it hard to ever leave his palace; but once he was obliged to go forth, then—however disinclined to action he had been in the past—he would fling himself, not so much with courage as in a headstrong, even foolhardy spirit, in the face of dangers.’...the Sicilians, led by the King himself, were advancing in formidable numbers and strength.” John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History (Random House, New York, 2015), 82-83. 65 Hiroshi Takayama, The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Leiden: Brill, 1993), pg. 96-98. 66 Amiratus amiratorum is translated by Norwich as “emir of emirs”, i.e. the chief minister of the kingdom. John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History (Random House, New York, 2015), 76. Hiroshi Takayama, “Familiares Regis and the Royal Inner Council in Twelfth-Century Sicily” (The English Historical Review 104, no. 411: 1989), 357-72. 67 Hiroshi Takayama, The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Leiden: Brill, 1993), pg. 97.

28 treasury—and coveted positions in the privy council—among themselves.68 In 1160, the barons, having garnered public support through rumored defamation of Maio’s character, carried their plans to fruition and killed the king’s chief advisor. Maio of Bari’s murderer was a baron named

Matthew Bonello.69 While the revolt was eventually crushed and heavy reparations were demanded from those involved, the immediate impact of the uprising was clear: without his amiratus amiratorum, William I’s administration deteriorated into a chaotic struggle between remaining familiares regis. This chaos, coupled with William I’s lack of pragmatism and indecisiveness, increased as the year 1160 progressed and culminated in yet another riot, this time largely orchestrated by one of the familiares regis instituted by the king. The result of this uprising was devastating for the royal family, as it culminated in the death of William I’s nine- year-old son and heir, Roger IV.70

In 1161 a group that comprised of many of the same nobles who participated in the murder of Maio began to formulate plans for a palace coup. Most notable for his involvement was Archdeacon Henry Aristippus, one of the original familiares regis whose insight into the personal schedules of the royal family was undoubtedly invaluable to the conspirators.71 Though warned by both his wife and the palace eunuchs—who had heard rumor of a second uprising—

William I refused to investigate claims of potential revolt, and within months a coup was

68 Jacqueline Alio, “Queen Consort ,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 119. 69 Graham A. Loud et al., The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by "Hugo Falcandus", 1153-69 (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998). 70 The revolt in question was led by Matthew Bonello, a Norman lord of Caccamo who had been integral in the planning and execution of Maio’s assassination. Jacqueline Alio, “Queen Consort ,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 119. 71 It’s important to note that following the death of Maio, Archdeacon Henry Aristippus was promoted to a chief position within the familiares regis. He did not become amiratus amiratorum, but it was the king’s intention that he fulfill the same roles as Maio had prior to his murder, i.e. running the kingdom. This makes the weight of Aristippus’ actions the following year even heavier—his betrayal of the king’s trust (in his involvement with the riot of 1161) came right on the heels of a promotion.

29 underway.72 Rebellious barons entered the palace while the royal family attended mass and, by freeing criminals imprisoned within the palace, turned their operation from a moderately-sized rebellion to a large, vengeful mob. They proceeded to capture the king, who was instructed to either abdicate or be put to death. The queen and her children were likewise sequestered, while throughout the palace the mob dissolved into violence and thievery: eunuchs were murdered, ladies of the court abducted, and the treasures of the palace looted by the opportunistic mob.73

After a full day of violence and revolt, the rebels forcefully retrieved the nine-year-old Roger IV from Margaret and his brothers and paraded him through the streets of Palermo declaring him the new king.74 Notably, Roger’s tutor Walter Ophamil—who would resurface as a major adversary of the queen during her regency—joined the revolt, publicly declaring Roger king and William I a tyrant destined to be dethroned.75

After three consecutive days of rioting, an armed citizen’s coalition attacked the palace and demanded the king be freed. After securing a promise that the rebels would not be killed for their actions, the barons released William I and the revolt seemed to near its end.76 However, relief was short-lived for the royal family; as Margaret and her sons began to leave the palatial tower that had served as their prison, Roger IV was hit by a stray arrow shot through an open

72 At the forefront of Bonello’s murderous coalition were jealous relations of both William and Margaret, including the king’s half-brother Simon, nephew Tancred, and the queen’s cousin Gilbert. Graham A. Loud et al., The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by "Hugo Falcandus", 1153-69 (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998). 73 John Julius Norwich. The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194. Longman: London, 1970. 74 The violence and pillaging moved beyond the palace walls; with no one at whom to direct their rage, the mob spilled into the streets of Palermo, senselessly murdering Muslims—a group the largely-Christian barons blamed for their subjugation during the reign of Roger II. David Luscombe, Riley-Smith, Jonathan, eds. The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 4, c.1024-c.1198, Part II (Cambridge University Press, 2004). 75 Walter was a major adversary of Margaret and will be discussed at length in the following chapter. Jacqueline Alio, “Tragedy,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 140. 76 David Luscombe, Riley-Smith, Jonathan, eds. The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 4, c.1024-c.1198, Part II (Cambridge University Press, 2004).

30 window.77 The wound would take the nine-year-old’s life in mere hours, but would fuel the queen’s hatred of complacent leadership and general distrust of noblemen for decades to come.

In the aftermath of the riot, William I struggled to successfully rule over an administration he felt he could no longer trust. The king’s disinterest resumed tenfold following the revolt that claimed his son’s life, and it is recorded that most of his remaining time in power was spent either away from court entirely or in his personal harem. The administration, destabilized and without a clear leader, became entirely reliant on the familiares regis, now changed significantly in composition: William’s original triumvirate, composed of the rebellious

Archdeacon Henry Aristippus, the king’s elderly cousin Count Silvester of Marsico, and Bishop- elect Richard Palmer, was almost entirely discarded.78 Aristippus was quickly replaced following the palace coup by Matthew the Notary, who had worked for many years alongside Maio and would remain on the council throughout the queen’s regency.79 Count Silvester was also replaced following his death in 1162 by Arab eunuch and master chamberlain Qā’id Peter, a converted

77 Graham A. Loud et al., The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by "Hugo Falcandus", 1153-69 (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998). 78 Hiroshi Takayama, “Familiares Regis and the Royal Inner Council in Twelfth-Century Sicily” (The English Historical Review 104, no. 411: 1989), 357-72. 79 The circumstances surrounding Aristippus’ death in 1162 (after being replaced in the privy council and fleeing Palermo) are quite interesting in their possible connection to Margaret. Following the riot that killed his heir William I was frequently absent from court, leaving his council in charge of administrative matters and Margaret the senior monarch present at the court. This was the case when Aristippus was captured by Qā’id Martin (who will be introduced in this chapter). According to Alio, Aristippus—who was vital in organizing the palace coup—had taken advantage of the chaos of the rebellion and abducted a number of young girls, imprisoning them in his home as his own personal harem. Likely on the behest of Margaret, upon recapture the ex-archdeacon was sealed in a dungeon to await his death. Though there is no way to be totally certain Aristippus’ death was orchestrated by Margaret, her deep resentment towards those involved in the riot, frustration at the lack of justice administered by her husband, and relationship with Martin support the hypothesis of her involvement. The queen, tired of her husband’s negligence within the court, was beginning to assert her power. Furthermore, I think it could be argued that Aristippus’ crime against young women was particularly resonant with Margaret, a woman whose life had been dictated by men who used her as a pawn for political alliance. It is asserted by Norwich that William I showed little affection to his wife, and her value was based on her ability to produce children (as was typical). I am confident making the assumption that the archdeacon’s crime struck a chord with the already grieving queen. Jacqueline Alio, “Queen Consort ,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 119.

31 Muslim close to the queen.80 Richard Palmer, for his part, retained his place in the council until

1184.

Such was the structure of power in Sicily in March of 1166 when William I fell ill and, correctly suspecting his life was nearing its end, decreed his eldest remaining son heir to the throne. The dying king named Margaret “keeper of the entire realm,” though his declaration of her regency was underscored with the caveat that the appointed familiares regis would, “remain in the same familiaritas of the curia so that according to their counsel the Queen would manage that which it [appeared] necessary to do.”81 By May, William I died and his son, William II, was crowned heir apparent to the throne of Sicily. With her husband’s passing and the coronation of

William II, Margaret’s regency began. At thirty-one, she became one of the most powerful women in all of Europe, simultaneously inheriting the island’s economic bounty and administrative difficulties in one fell swoop.82

Margaret’s Regency (r. 1166-1171): Familiares Regis and Walter Ophamil

As regent, Margaret quickly set about the daunting task of attempting to undo the damage caused by her husband’s complacency and poor judgement. The queen’s actions were not solely for personal glory—though certainly mindful of her own legacy, she also acted in the name of her son, for whom she hoped to garner support to ensure his safety as the future monarch. With this in mind, Margaret, inspired by the administrative philosophies of Roger II, her late father-in- law, began her pragmatic five-year reign.

80 Hiroshi Takayama, “Familiares Regis and the Royal Inner Council in Twelfth-Century Sicily” (The English Historical Review 104, no. 411: 1989), 357-72. 81 Ibid, pg. 362. Here Takayama is quoting Falcandus in his The History of the Tyrants of Sicily: “electrum quoque Siracusanum, gaytum Petrum, Matheum notarium, quos ipse sibi familiares elegerat, in eadem iussit familiariate curie permanere, ut eorum regina consilio que gerenda viderentur disponeret.” 82 Jacqueline Alio, “Estrangement ,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 151.

32 Having experienced firsthand the consequences of restless barons in the kingdom, the queen issued several decrees meant to subdue the noblemen and garner their support for the monarchy.83 She also worked to remedy Roger II’s legal system, largely neglected during the reign of William I. The legal system as inherited by Margaret was operated by subjective belief rather than the law as established through Roger II’s Assizes of Ariano.84 As a result, harsh sentences for petty crimes had fostered a general distrust for the legal system in the realm. To remedy this, Margaret reviewed and released a large number of prisoners, cancelling their debts and, in some cases, restoring lands confiscated by her husband.85 Though to many this course of action seemed ill-advised, it was meant to nurture support for the monarchy as a display of just and fair governance in the wake of King William I.86

As regent, Margaret displayed adept administrative strategy that was largely unexpected by the familiares regis. Comforted by the king’s deathbed decree, members of the privy council—who hoped to maintain control of the realm—were initially unintimidated by the queen. This situation changed as Margaret rapidly reorganized the council and strategically promoted various barons to strengthen the monarchial cause. Directly after her coronation as regent, she restructured William I’s administration by naming her ally Qā’id Peter master

83 Graham A. Loud et al., The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by "Hugo Falcandus", 1153-69 (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998). Jacqueline Alio, “Appendix 10: Margaret’s Decrees ,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 409-417 84 As stated by Alio, “If there was a framework for Margaret’s authority, it was millennial tradition and the kingdom’s Assizes of Ariano...The justiciars seem to have applied the law arbitrarily, meting out justice as they saw fit but ever influenced by the king’s [William I’s] mentality. This sometimes resulted in overzealous prosecution and excessively harsh sentences even for minor transgressions. A disturbing degree of corruption permeated officialdom.” Jacqueline Alio, “Queen Regent,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 155. 85 Ibid. Antonino Iacono, Storia Di Sicilia: Dalla Preistoria Ai Nostri Giorni (Catania, Italia: Boemi, 2001), 139. 86 Hiroshi Takayama, The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Leiden: Brill, 1993). Furthering these efforts, Margaret granted property to nobles and monastic orders. The land she gave to nobles aided in avoiding future plots to expand their domains, while the land granted to monastic orders was meant to neutralize areas of contested lands and designate such lands as under her control, rather than subject to a baron.

33 chamberlain and head minister of the other two familiares (Matthew the Notary and Richard

Palmer).87 However, the queen’s strategic installment of the Qā’id was not enough to dissuade the advantageous squabbling of those within her court, and conspiracies against Peter began almost immediately.

With Qā’id Peter established as head of the familiares regis, jealous members of the nobility began a rumor-fueled campaign to remove the newly appointed chief minister from power. Richard Palmer, who would become notorious for his opposition to both the queen and her chief counselor, was particularly instrumental in concocting rumors about Qā’id Peter, in the hopes that he could rally the court to demand the abdication of the Qā’id’s privileged position.

Concurrent with Palmer’s conspiring was the arrival of the queen’s cousin, Gilbert of Gravina, to court during the summer of 1166. Gilbert, who had been involved in the riot that took the life of

Margaret’s son, Roger, was offered a position under the Qā’id. The offer offended Gilbert, who hoped his familial relationship with the queen would lead to a prominent leadership role, his expectations of nepotism seemingly overshadowing the reality of his recent betrayal. Angry at his cousin’s offer, Gilbert left Palermo and began to rally barons to his aid, amassing a small army from the hired knights of the barons he coerced.88 Unfortunately for Gilbert, he had gravely underestimated his cousin’s political acumen. In response to Gilbert’s actions, Margaret

87 “But she did not wish the familiares of the curia to remain in the same grade as before or in the same dignity. For, she granted Qā’id Peter the highest power concerning all matters, and placed him in a higher position than anyone else and ordered that the bishop-elect of Syracuse [Richard Palmer] and Matthew the notary should obey his orders in all matters, although as his assistants they are certainly to be named among the counsellors (consilio) and familiares.” Translated in Takayama’s "Familiares Regis and the Royal Inner Council in Twelfth-Century Sicily," this quote is from Falcandus’ History of the Tyrants of Sicily: “familiares autem curie non in eo gradu quo fuerant aut dignitatis equalitate voluit permanere; nam gayto Petro summa rerum omnium potestate concessa, super omnes eminentiori loco constituens, electrum Siracusanum Matheumque notarium precepit, ut eius coadiutores, interesse quidem consiliis et familiares appellari, sed eius in omnibus imperio subservire.” Hiroshi Takayama, “Familiares Regis and the Royal Inner Council in Twelfth-Century Sicily” (The English Historical Review 104, no. 411: 1989), 357-72. 88 Gilbert’s goal was to force the queen to remove Qā’id Peter from his position and promote himself to chief counselor. John Julius Norwich, The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194 (London: Longman, 1970). Takayama, Hiroshi. The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Leiden: Brill, 1993).

34 promoted a nobleman by the name of Robert to the dignity of Count of Molise, a region that was known for its many wealthy baronies. In one move, Margaret had indebted Robert of Molise and all the barons under his control to the crown: every knight in the region was expected to defend the queen’s interest. This stratagem was impactful, and Gilbert ended his tawdry attempt at building an army.89

Despite his failure to rise through the ranks of the familiar regis, Gilbert was semi- successful in his plot: fearful for his life following rumors that an enraged Gilbert meant to return to court and murder him, Qā’id Peter left Sicily for Tunis, where he renounced Christianity and returned to his Muslim roots. However, even with the loss of her chief counselor Margaret remained in control. Not only did Margaret proceed to elect Robert of Molise to the Qā’id’s position; she also worked to send Gilbert far from the kingdom. Margaret’s handling of her cousin’s misplaced ambition is but one example of strategic intellect and highlights the contrast between the regent and her late-husband. Where William I was recorded as “despondent” following the death of Maio of Bari, Margaret responded to her own loss of an ally by refocusing her attention on administrative organization.90

Another example of the queen’s aptitude for strategy dates to 1167, when Stephen du

Perche—another relation of the queen—was summoned to Palermo along with his French entourage.91 Perche was swiftly appointed the highest position in the privy council and

89 Hiroshi Takayama, “Familiares Regis and the Royal Inner Council in Twelfth-Century Sicily” (The English Historical Review 104, no. 411: 1989), 357-72. Jacqueline Alio, “Queen Regent ,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 153-173. 90 Graham A. Loud et al., The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by "Hugo Falcandus", 1153-69 (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998). 91 Margaret’s mother was Margaret of Aigle, daughter of the Norman lord Gilbert of Aigle and Juliana of Perche. Interestingly, Perche was on his way to Jerusalem to fight in the Crusades when his presence was requested in Palermo. Kathleen Thompson, Power and Border Lordship in Medieval France: the County of the Perche, 1000- 1226 (Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, 2013), pp. 72-75.

35 simultaneously named Archbishop of Palermo. Due to his hold on both the monarchal and ecclesiastic spheres in the city, Perche’s power—and therefore the queen’s—was quasi-absolute, so much so that little regarding other familiares is present in twelfth-century records during this period.92 However, Perche’s time in power was short-lived; like Qā’id Peter before him, Perche was the subject of conspiracy and rumor that drove him to abandon his post in 1168, naming

“violent disturbances” as the cause of his desertion.93

Records after 1168 indicate a resurgence in the power of the privy council; the group changed from three to ten familiares and became increasingly difficult for the queen to manage.94 Although Margaret had worked to create a council headed by monarchial allies, its membership changed consistently over her first two and a half years of regency. This turnover would come to an end, however, with the declaration of Walter Ophamil as Archbishop of

Palermo in 1169.95 The former tutor of the royal children, Walter’s newfound ecclesiastic power allowed him to take control of the privy council, likely citing Stephen du Perche as a precedent for the duel position of Archbishop and chief of the familiares.96 Under Walter, whose adversarial attitude towards the crown had been well documented during the palace coup of

1161, the familiares regis was reduced again to three and eventually repopulated without royal consultation. With no control over the counsel that effectively ran her government, Margaret’s only choice was to find a different way to reduce Walter’s power, a necessity that grew in importance as Margaret’s regency waned and William II’s majority approached.

92 Hiroshi Takayama, “Familiares Regis and the Royal Inner Council in Twelfth-Century Sicily” (The English Historical Review 104, no. 411: 1989), 357-72. 93 Ibid. 94 Ibid. 95 Lynn Townsend White Jr. Latin Monasticism In Norman Sicily (Cambridge, Mass: Medieval Academy of America, 1938 and Literary Licensing, LLC, 2011). 96 Ibid. Hiroshi Takayama, “Familiares Regis and the Royal Inner Council in Twelfth-Century Sicily” (The English Historical Review 104, no. 411: 1989), 357-72.

36 CHAPTER III MONREALE: A STRATEGIC COMMISSION

By 1171 Archbishop Walter Ophamil’s position within the inner council was largely solidified; as head of the familiares regis, Walter used his authority to promote his own brother to the council, a strategic display of nepotism meant to further stave off any internal objections to the archbishop’s growing ambition.97 However, Walter’s power was not limited to the familiares regis: as archbishop of Palermo, a metropolitan archdiocese since 1065, his jurisdiction reached far beyond the city limits. As archbishop, Walter held the highest ecclesiastic position in Palermo and oversaw several different dioceses and their associated economic matters. His position allowed him to control church finances, assign clergy (as aided his personal cause), and direct trade between monasteries within his jurisdiction.

Given his dominance in both ecclesiastic and administrative spheres, it was likely that the approaching majority of William II was welcomed by Walter, who saw the transitional moment as one of monarchial instability that could only strengthen his control over matters of state. The archbishop did not, however, recognize the queen regent’s acute awareness of the political administration her son was set to inherit. With almost no internal control due to the make-up of the familiares regis, Margaret sought other avenues to lessen Walter’s supremacy as William II prepared to take the throne, finding a solution in the strategic foundation of the Cathedral of

Monreale (figure 3.1). As communicated through surviving twelfth-century documents, the cathedral’s role was more than simply a royal dedication to the Virgin Mary. Rather, it was a tool used to defuse the power Walter held over the monarchy. Through strategic royal donations and

97 This promotion occurred following the death of the familiare Bishop Gentile of Agrigento in 1171. Walter’s brother, Bartholomew, was granted the title of Bishop of Agrigento and the late Gentile’s position in the inner council. Hiroshi Takayama, “Familiares Regis and the Royal Inner Council in Twelfth-Century Sicily” (The English Historical Review 104, no. 411: 1989), pp. 367.

37 papal decree, Monreale would become an archbishopric that rivaled that of nearby Palermo

(figure 3.2), restructuring both ecclesiastic hierarchy in the region as well as the configuration of the familiares regis.

In order to succinctly communicate how Monreale was designed to challenge Walter

Ophamil’s ever-increasing power in Sicily, this chapter will be divided into sections based on important primary source evidence that focuses on the cathedral’s jurisdictional, economic, and bishopric status. While only one source definitively names the queen (the charter of 1174), all aid in a deeper understanding of just how impactful the new cathedral was to the resurgence of monarchal power.98

Monreale in Twelfth-Century Text: The Charter of 1174

Though it is unclear exactly when construction on Monreale began, primary sources including ecclesiastical charters and papal bulls indicate that work on the cathedral likely commenced between 1171, the year of royal transition between Margaret’s regency and her son’s majority, and 1174, when the foundation of a royal cathedral dedicated to the Madonna first appears in written documentation.99 The text in question, a charter composed by Archbishop

Nicolas I of Messina, offers valuable insight into the burgeoning importance of the structure and its patronage. As transcribed by Michele Del Giudice in the eighteenth century under the rubric,

98 The purpose of this chapter is not to argue that Margaret was the Cathedral’s sole patron. Instead, it is focused on providing an analysis of primary source documents pertaining to Monreale in the form of charters and bulls. These documents record major decisions on behalf of Pope Alexander III, an ally of the Sicilian monarchy, that elevated Monreale to a status high enough to rival Walter Ophamil’s power. The first charter, however, does point to Margaret as the mind behind elevating the new structure. 99 Monreale, or “royal mountain” from the Latin mons regalis, would not be given its name until 1183. “Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts” (dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994), https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078.

38 Descrizione Del Real Tempio, E Monasterio Di Santa Maria Di Monreale, the charter states the following:

Archbishop Nicolas of Messina sealed a privilege [donation] with the seal of his church on the first of

March 1174. Signed by himself, two dignitaries, and nine canons of the same church, he granted with

confidence to Queen Margherita his chapter and monastery, which was built in Maniace, with all he had in

his diocese. He, his successor, or his church could not take any of the men or lands the monastery had, and

if by chance he or his successors passed through the monastery, he could not seek any food or anything else

if the abbot of the convent did not wish to give it to him of his own will [i.e., Nicolas or his successors

would no longer have authority there]. And, because the Queen wanted to offer the monastery to the one

her son had built near Palermo in honor of the Madonna, he [Nicolas] gave them all the jurisdiction that his

church had had there [the monastery], if the Pope was satisfied with it.100

While the donation of certain rights and privileges from one jurisdiction to another was not uncommon when it came to the foundation of medieval buildings, Nicolas I of Messina’s charter is of particular interest due to its connection to the queen and the papal bulls it triggered.

100 “Nicolo I. Arcivescovo di Messina per un privilegio piombato co'l sigillo della sua Chiesa il primo di Marzo 1174. Sottoscritto da lui, da due dignita, & da nove canonici della medesima Chiesa concesse con configlio del suo capitolo alla Regina Donna Margarita, & al monasterio, A, che faceva edificare in Maniace, che fusse essento dalla sua Chiesa, con tutto quel che havesse nella sua Diocese, che non potesse egli, o successor suo, o la sua chiesa con qualsivoglia titolo pigliar alcuna cosa della robbe, degli huomini, & delle terre, che il monasterio havesse nella sua diocese, che se per caso egli, o successor suo passasse per lo monasterio, o luoghi, & obedienze sue non potesse per propria autorita, o per qualche debito cercare, ne pigliare in modo alcuno vitto, ne altro, se l'abbate, over convento di propria volonta, & liberalita no glielo volesse dare, & perche la Regina voleva offerrire il monasterio a quello che il Re Guiglielmo suo figliuolo faceva fabricare vicino a Palermo in honore della Madonna, li cedeva tutta la giurisditione, che la sua chiesa vi potesse havere, se'l Papa se ne sosse contentato.” Michele Del Giudice, Descrizione Del Real Tempio e Monasterio Di Santa Maria La Nuova Di Monreale. Vite De'suoi Ardvescovi, Abbat e Signori. Col Sommario Dei Privilege Della Detta Santa Chiesa Di Giov. Luigi Lello...ristampata ...Con Le Osservazioni Sopra Le Fabbriche, e Mosaici Della Chiesa (Palermo, Sicily: Regia Stamperia d'Agostino Epiro, 1702), pp. 476. Translation by Emmaleigh Huston. Note: Michele Del Giudice is the author of the 1702 volume, however, some sources (such as Lynn Townsend-White) cite G. L. Lello (pen name of Cardinal Archbishop Ludovico di Torres) alongside Del Giudice, as Giudice references Lello’s volume from 1596. Lynn Townsend White Jr. Latin Monasticism In Norman Sicily (Cambridge, Mass: Medieval Academy of America, 1938 and Literary Licensing, LLC, 2011), pp. 133.

39 The monastery at the center of the charter, Santa Maria de Maniace (figures 3.3 and 3.4), was a

Benedictine abbey endowed by Queen Margaret the same year the charter was composed.101 The endowment and almost immediate donation of Santa Maria de Mainace’s privileges insinuates the structure was meant from inception as a tool to aid Monreale’s growth. Further supporting this hypothesis is the queen’s endowment of the monastery with funds from her own dowry, marking it as a personal investment.102 The donation charter not only allows for an analysis of how the donation of a wealthy monastery’s possessions—in this case, a royally endowed institution with twenty-six recorded churches under its jurisdiction—could be used to bolster a new structure’s standing in the ecclesiastic sphere; it also implies the queen was deeply invested

101 In her biography, Margaret, Queen of Sicily, Jacqueline Alio states that Margaret herself visited the Nebrodian Mountains of Messina in 1173-74, where construction of Santa Maria de Maniace was underway. Alio asserts that, “several charters relating to the monasteries she founded in the Nebrodian Mountains cite her authority exclusively...Maniace became a vast network of holdings outside the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Messina, ceded to the authority of the abbot of Monreale.” Jacqueline Alio, “Queen Mother ,” chapter, in Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 294. 102 Michele Del Giudice, Descrizione Del Real Tempio e Monasterio Di Santa Maria La Nuova Di Monreale. Vite De'suoi Ardvescovi, Abbat e Signori. Col Sommario Dei Privilege Della Detta Santa Chiesa Di Giov. Luigi Lello...ristampata ...Con Le Osservazioni Sopra Le Fabbriche, e Mosaici Della Chiesa (Palermo, Sicily: Regia Stamperia d'Agostino Epiro, 1702), pp. 476. “Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts” (dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994), https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078.

40 in Monreale’s economic success, going so far as to strategically redistribute assets obtained through her personal dowry.103

Monreale in Twelfth-Century Text: Alexander III, Bulls of 1174-76

Nicolas I of Messina’s charter of 1174 was received and accepted—with great excitement—by Pope Alexander III in December of the same year.104 Alexander III, an ally of the Norman-Hauteville dynasty, had reason to support any donations to the new cathedral.

Although by 1174 he had already held the title of Pope for fifteen years, Alexander’s time as the head of the Catholic church was defined by strategic diplomacy and schism, the latter a near constant struggle that ultimately culminated in an alliance between himself and the Sicilian monarchy.

After the death of Pope Adrian IV in 1159, then-Chancellor Roland (the future Alexander

III) was a favorite for promotion to the papal throne. As stated by Anne J. Duggen in her contribution to Pope Alexander III (1159-81) The Art of Survival (2016), “Roland’s rapid promotion to cardinal deacon, cardinal priest, and especially chancellor, speaks volumes for his

103 The twenty-six churches under Maniace’s jurisdiction are recorded (in Latin) by Townsend White in Latin Monasticism In Norman Sicily: “The vast extent of this pseudo-bishopric [Maniace] can best be grasped by tabulating the churches mentioned in the charter. Twenty-six are named, and the existence of many more is implied. The archbishop grants: In Maniacia Ecclesiam Sancti Pauli de Hospitali de Xara (Sciara), Ecclesiam Sancti Petri in loco qui dicitur Messuriachia, Ecclesiam Sancti Iohannis, Ecclesiam Sancti Nicolai de Xara, Ecclesiam Sancti Leonis, et omnes Ecclesias, que sunt in eodem Burgo, Ecclesiam Sancte Parasceven (S. Venere), et tam omnes Ecclesias que in eodem Casali constructe permanent, quam et omnes Ecclesias Casalis de Corvo, nostro dominio pertinentes, et, Ecclesias Rotuli, sicut ad presens constructe permanent, et de cetero poterunt in predictis, auxiliante Domino, construe et fundari, Concedimus etiam, Ecclesiam Sancti Iuliani de Rochella, Ecclesiam Sancte Marie, que est in vineis, Ecclesiam Sancti Iohanni in Oliverio, Ecclesiam Sancti Leonis, Ecclesiam Sancti Michelis, Ecclesiam Sancti Nicolai de Alafico in Turturitio (Tortorici), Ecclesiam Sancte Catherine, Ecclesiam Sancti Nicolai de Castanea; in Sancto Marco Ecclesiam novam Sancte Marie, Ecclesiam Sancte Parasceven; in Militello, Ecclesiam Sancti Constantini, Ecclesiam Sancti Iohannis, Ecclesiam Sancti Nicolai, Ecclesiam Sancte Marie, cum totam decimam ipsius Militelli in perpetuum concedimus; in Sancto Philadelfo Ecclesiam Sancti Bartholomei, Ecclesiam Sancti Theodori, Ecclesiam Sancti Iacobi de Hospitali iuxta mare; in Caronia Ecclesiam Sancti Nicolai, Ecclesiam Sancte Marie; in Messina Ecclesiam Sancte Agathe de Faro liberam, uel cum Messane fuerimus, meliorem ea si potuerimus dare concedimus.” Lynn Townsend White Jr. Latin Monasticism In Norman Sicily (Cambridge, Mass: Medieval Academy of America, 1938 and Literary Licensing, LLC, 2011), pp. 147. 104 Lynn Townsend White Jr. Latin Monasticism In Norman Sicily (Cambridge, Mass: Medieval Academy of America, 1938 and Literary Licensing, LLC, 2011), pp. 133.

41 combination of learning and eloquence.”105 Despite these attributes the election was a contentious one, as Adrian’s death emphasized a rift that had been steadily forming between

Chancellor Roland and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, with the kingdom of Sicily a source of contention between the two.106 In 1156, Roland had been instrumental in high-level diplomacy with William I of Sicily that led to the Accord of Benevento, a declaration that recognized

William I’s kingship. Frederick I, who sought to add Italy to his domain as Holy Roman

Emperor, viewed the Accord of Benevento as a major breach of prior acts and, recognizing

Roland’s part in the Accord, denied the results of the papal election that overwhelmingly named

Roland pope. By 1160 the most powerful kingdoms in Europe, after intensive diplomatic efforts by both Roland and Frederick I, officially recognized Roland as the new Bishop of Rome.

Notably, the kingdoms of Sicily and Navarre both publicly declared support for the newly- crowned Pope Alexander III, Navarre reflecting the lineage of Queen Margaret.107 The Sicilian monarchy further supported and protected Alexander III after Frederick I attacked Rome in

1167: as regent, Margaret harbored Alexander in Benevento until his 1170 return to enclaves south of Rome.108

105 Alexander III/Roland’s prior positions within the church were as follows: cardinal deacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano (1150), cardinal priest of S. Marco (1151-9), and chancellor (1153-9). Anne J Duggen, “Alexander ille meus: The Papacy of Alexander III,” chapter, in Pope Alexander III (1159-81) The Art of Survival (Routledge, 2016), pp. 13-51. 106 Ibid. 107 Navarre was, of course, a kingdom in its own right. However, I find it very interesting/significant that Sicily and Navarre are named concurrently in Duggan’s chapter. Other kingdoms that supported Alexander III by 1160 included those of England, France, Castile, Hungary, León, and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Aragon-Catalonia and Portugal joined the others in their support by 1163. Anne J Duggen, “Alexander ille meus: The Papacy of Alexander III,” chapter, in Pope Alexander III (1159-81) The Art of Survival (Routledge, 2016), pp. 22. 108 There is so much to say about the papacy of Alexander III; for more information on the life and papacy of Alexander III, see Pope Alexander III (1159-81) The Art of Survival. Peter D Clarke and Anne J Duggen, eds., Pope Alexander III (1159-81) The Art of Survival (Routledge, 2016). This source, previously used primarily for Duggen’s contribution, includes chapters by twelve different authors, all focused on Alexander III. For the purpose of this research, information on Alexander III is limited to exploring the alliance between himself and Sicily.

42 From 1159 and throughout Margaret’s regency, Alexander III and Sicily maintained a strong and important alliance, the realities of which aid in understanding the nuances of the pope’s reaction to Nicholas of Messina’s charter of 1174. The meteoric rise of Archbishop

Walter Ophamil (whose nature was described by Ferdinand Chalandon as “[one] eaten up by ambition, [who] takes part in every plot, in all the intrigues, and seeks by every means to push his way to the top”) was a threat to both the Sicilian monarchy—Alexander’s ally—and the pope’s hold on what was one of the wealthiest Christian kingdoms in Europe.109 Alexander’s enthusiastic response to Nicholas I’s donations to Monreale—in the form of two important papal bulls—reveals the pope’s desire to work with the Sicilian monarchy to mitigate Walter’s power as archbishop.110

On December 29, 1174, Alexander III officially accepted Nicolas I of Messina’s charter, and, in an accompanying bull, bestowed the upstart monastery of Monreale with a privilege appropriate to an alliance between the monarchy and the church: super sanctum kuriacum.111

Arguably one of the most telling privileges received by Monreale (and the monarchy), super sanctum Kuriacum freed Monreale from all episcopal or archiepiscopal jurisdiction.112 Though

109 Though not until years later, Walter Ophamil’s policies would reveal him as an ally of Frederick I (further warranting Alexander III’s suspicions). Walter aided in arranging the marriage of Constance, posthumous daughter of Roger II and heiress to Sicily, and Henry, the son of Frederick I (by then the “King of Rome”) in 1186. L.J.A. Loewenthal, “For the Biography of Walter Ophamil, Archbishop of Palermo” (The English Historical Review 87, no. 342: 1972), pp. 75-82. 110 It is important to note that by 1174 William II was king. However, Margaret’s foundation and donation of Sta. Maria Maniace shows that she was intimately involved in the scheme of Monreale. This is not to say the Queen and her son were not working together. On the contrary, I think it likely that they were partners (although I argue Margaret was the primary patron/came up with the idea These matters will be examined further in the next chapter on visual elements that point to her patronage). The idea that they were partners in the foundation of Monreale is, to my knowledge, only mentioned by one author: Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers. This thesis takes it a step further by acknowledging Margaret as the initial patron of a structure meant to help her son’s future as king; Monreale was founded with him and for him. 111 Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts” (dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994), https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078. 112 L.J.A. Loewenthal, “For the Biography of Walter Ophamil, Archbishop of Palermo” (The English Historical Review 87, no. 342: 1972), pp. 75-82.

43 less than ten kilometers separated Monreale from the city of Palermo, the royal cathedral and monastery would not fall under Walter’s jurisdiction, making it a rival to the archbishop rather than an asset.113 Super sanctum Kuriacum, along with the wealth of Nicholas I of Messina’s donations, reinforced Monreale’s position in the hierarchy of episcopal jurisdiction and, perhaps most importantly, hinted that together the pope and Sicilian monarchy hoped to turn Monreale into an archbishopric in its own right.

Exactly one day after Alexander III evoked super sanctum Kuriacum, the pope produced a second bull that further removed Monreale from Walter Ophamil’s sphere of influence.114 The bull decreed Monreale’s abbey abbacy nullius, a special privilege that carried with it a particularly extraordinary clause. Not only did Monreale not fall under Walter’s jurisdiction (as established by super sanctum Kuriacum); abbacy nullius guaranteed that it never would, unless

Walter ever took the papal throne for himself. The decree named Alexander III as Monreale’s only authority, thwarting any further advances Walter might have undergone to take control.115

The pope did, however, concede some of the power granted to him by abbacy nullius to the

Sicilian monarchy by revoking his right to “try delinquencies of the abbot,” instead granting the

Sicilian monarch the power to appoint and control a court of ecclesiastics if needed.116

Another major set of privileges granted to Monreale through abbacy nullius concerned concessions and exemptions designed to make Monreale’s abbey economically superior to

Walter’s possessions as archbishop of Palermo, so much so that it could grow large enough for

113 Without this decree (and abbacy nullius) Monreale would have fallen under Walter’s jurisdiction as Archbishop of Palermo. 114 The original charter of 1174 (composed in March) was accepted on December 29, 1174 (along with the decree of super sanctum Kuriacum, as stated above). Alexander III endowed Monreale with the privilege of abbacy nullius the next day, December 30, 1174. Lynn Townsend White Jr. Latin Monasticism In Norman Sicily (Cambridge, Mass: Medieval Academy of America, 1938 and Literary Licensing, LLC, 2011), pp. 133. 115 Ibid. 116 Ibid.

44 consideration as an archbishopric and spur the creation of a new seat on the royal inner council.

In his bull, the pope commanded all Sicilian dioceses to make donations to the new cathedral and monastery, the heaviest concessions demanded by the island’s largest archbishopric, Palermo. In a thinly veiled blow to Walter, the archbishop was required to concede (among others) the wealthy diocese of Corleone and all of its possessions and ecclesiastic rights.117 Additional donations, as stated by medieval historian Lynn Townsend White in his book, Latin Monasticism

In Norman Sicily (1938) made it, “evident that [the] abbot of [Monreale] was a bishop in all externals, and lacked only the sacramental graces of the episcopacy.” Further donations demanded by the pope were also collected and examined by Townsend White, who observed the following:

Alexander [III] confirmed all the properties of the new foundation [Monreale], acquired or to be acquired,

both within and without the Norman realm. Particularly he provided that if any ecclesiastic had any rights,

over any church or tenement given to King William’s [II] new abbey, he should surrender them completely

making no reservation of tithes...The back-bone of the monastery’s endowment was provided by the

donation of the castella of Jato, Corleone, and Calatrasi, with all their belongings, both of the royal domain

and lands held in service...in edition the monks [of Monreale] received the casale of Bulchar, nearby, with

its mills; a mill newly constructed below the abbey; the churches of St. Kiriaca and St. Silvester with their

possessions; that of St. Clement in Messina; in Calabria the monastery of St. Maria of Macla near Acri, and

the church of St. Maurus in Rossano; a house, a sugar-mill, two vineyards, and a garden in Palermo; the

whole city of Bitetto near Bari in Apulia, with all its tenements...[and] the tuna fishery of the Isola delle

117 By 1176-77 the concession of Corleone to Monreale was official, as were the donations of the monastery of St. Mary Magdalene and the church of St. Silvester (both properties in Walter’s jurisdiction). Lynn Townsend White Jr. Latin Monasticism In Norman Sicily (Cambridge, Mass: Medieval Academy of America, 1938 and Literary Licensing, LLC, 2011), pp. 138.

45 Femmine, west of Cape Gallo; and the right to maintain five tax-free fishing smacks anywhere in the

realm.118

On top of the myriad privileges awarded to Monreale were the generous exemptions that resulted from the pope’s decree of abbacy nullius. Monreale was exempt from “taxes, procurations, or requisitions of any sort...[nothing] was to be extracted from the abbey, its men, its animals, its possessions or any commercial transactions which it might enter into for its own purposes.”119

To put the matter simply, Pope Alexander III, working closely with the Sicilian monarchy, ensured the royal cathedral an influx of wealth largely unaffected by external factors.

Answerable only to its benefactors rather than the nearby archbishopric of Palermo, the privileges granted to the foundation of Monreale (as appears in the written record) support the hypothesis that the cathedral—through the stratagems of an alliance between pope and monarch—was always meant to be elevated to the status of archbishopric, a designation that would successfully stymie the status of Walter Ophamil and, if large and influential enough, would allow for an addition to the familiares regis. Indeed, in 1183 Monreale was finally elevated to an archbishopric, the archbishop of Monreale eclipsing in power the archbishop of

Palermo, Walter. The same year, the newly appointed archbishop of Monreale—confirmed by the Sicilian monarch—was instituted into the royal inner council. Once dominated by Walter, the

118 Lynn Townsend White Jr. Latin Monasticism In Norman Sicily (Cambridge, Mass: Medieval Academy of America, 1938 and Literary Licensing, LLC, 2011), pp. 133. 119 Townsend White states that the only service officially required by Monreale’s abbey was “that when the King, or his heir, visited the abbey, he was to receive food and wine as though he were one of the brethren.” Ibid, pp. 137.

46 monarchy regained a significant amount of power over its administration; due to a patronage strategy set in motion by Queen Margaret and furthered by Pope Alexander III, Margaret’s son,

William II, was not destined for a reign punctuated by constant power struggles within his own administration. Instead, power began to shift back into the hands of the monarchy as early as

1174.

47 CHAPTER IV FUNERARY ARRANGEMENT AND SIX FEMALE SAINTS

Thus far the evidence presented in support of Queen Margaret’s patronage of Monreale has been largely circumstantial, derived from historical analyses of administrative dynamics within the Norman-Hauteville court (during and immediately following the ill-fated reign of

King William I) and primary source documents related to the careful, strategic foundation of the royally sponsored archbishopric-to-be. However, evidence supporting Margaret’s sponsorship of the structure is not limited to hypotheses alone: the queen’s involvement at the Cathedral of

Monreale can also be visually discerned through the purposeful location of Margaret’s tomb in the cathedral’s northern transept—a site deeply associated with royalty and kingship—and the mosaic images of six early Christian female saints directly facing the queen’s sarcophagus, all of whom resonate personally with Margaret’s biography to an extent that it is unlikely anyone other than the queen would have chosen them as a group.

Before beginning analysis, it is important to clarify how mosaic portraits and tomb locations together may support Margaret as a chief benefactor of Monreale. As will be discussed in this chapter, the northern transept had an overtly royal connotation in Norman Sicily. The transept’s importance for themes of royalty and kinship is evident in structures such as the

Cappella Palatina and, to a greater extent, the Cathedral of Cefalù. The latter building’s northern transept had been designated by Roger as the location of his future tomb, cementing it as a space fit for the burial of a king. In the same structure, Roger’s queen’s burial space was established in the southern transept.120 In contrast to this arrangement, Monreale, a structure begun less than

120 The southern transept was likely designated to Queen Beatrice of Rethel, the third wife of Roger II. However, there is also speculation that the sarcophagus donated by Roger to the southern transept may have been meant to act as a monument to his memory. This will be discussed in the following pages. Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen, Medieval Islamic Symbolism and the Paintings in the Cefalù Cathedral (Brill, 1986). Otto Demus, The Mosaics of Norman Sicily (Hacker Art Books, 1988).

48 thirty years after Roger’s funerary plans were made public, allocates the northern transept to the queen rather than the late king William I or Monreale’s contemporary king, William II. Had

William II acted as the sole patron of Monreale, as accepted by many historians of the structure, it seems unlikely he would have shirked the funerary tradition set in place by his grandfather, a beloved monarch who patronized the structure that was intended to one day act as his tomb.121

Furthermore, the unusual collection of saints placed opposite Margaret’s tomb—mosaic portraits of female martyrs whose grouping is unprecedented in prior Norman-Sicilian structures— suggests the queen herself chose them and their location to represent her after death. This chapter will analyze each saint and its connection with Margaret’s life, while also connecting the mosaic selections to a broader history of that saw the northern transept reserved for royalty and royal concerns.

Through hagiographic and visual analysis, this chapter will argue that Margaret, who would have been acutely aware of the northern transept’s connotation, likely designated the space to herself with the intention of commemorating her importance for a structure that changed the shape of medieval Sicilian politics. Both Monreale’s mosaic program and the location of its funerary monuments express Margaret’s involvement in the politically strategic commission, shedding visual light on Margaret’s power and sense of identity.

121 There is, of course, the hypothetical possibility that William II, out of love and respect for his mother, decided to place her in the northern transept. However, there is no information to support this claim, and the selection of female saints facing the northern transept argues against it. The hagiographies of the saints are so personal to Margaret’s life that it seems unlikely William II would have chosen them to represent his mother on his own. Of course, if, as this chapter posits, Margaret designated the space to herself she would have needed the support of William II, but that does not seem like it would have been a great hurtle, particularly considering the evidence supporting Margaret’s involvement in the foundation of the structure itself (in particular, her establishment and subsequent donation of Maniace and her dealings with Pope Alexander III). Without Margaret’s interventions, William II’s power as monarch would have been all but lost to Archbishop Walter Ophamil.

49 Monreale’s Northern Transept: Sicilian Precedence

The placement of Margaret’s tomb (figures 4.1, 4.2) in Monreale’s northern transept is an index of her importance to the structure’s foundation.122 Flanked by the tombs of two sons who died in childhood, Margaret’s sarcophagus is set against the transept’s northern wall, upon which mosaic scenes including the Entombment and Resurrection of Christ (figure 4.3), imagery typical of burial locales, are employed.123 The queen’s Latin epitaph is inlaid in marble above her tomb:

Here lies the Queen sprung from a royal cradle; your name is Margarita, whom you join in

character. You were the royal offspring, you drew your lineage from Kings, you were the voice of

the King and the image of nobility...124

This inscription collaborates with the images of the Entombment and Resurrection to communicate the function of the northern transept at Monreale; it is a burial site for a queen, established in anticipation of Margaret’s death in 1183.125

The importance of the location of Margaret’s tomb in the context of Norman Sicily’s religious architecture cannot be overstated. Prior to the construction of Monreale, prominent

122 Margaret’s husband, William I, died in 1166 and was originally interred in the Cathedral of Palermo, before being moved to the Cathedral of Monreale upon its completion. William II was later interred at the Cathedral of Monreale after his death in 1189. 123 Roger, who died in 1160 and Henry, who died in 1172. 124 Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts.” Dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994: pp. 176. https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078. Inscription in full: Hic Regina jacet regalibus edita cunis, Margarita tibi nomen, quod moribus unis [unas]: Regia progenies, per Reges ducta propago, Vox Regis eras, & nobilitis imago. 1183 Si taceam, quibus ipse reples praeconia mundum, Regem W satis est peperisse secundum. Wilielmum. Vndecies centum decies octo tribus annis Post hominem Christum migras necis eruta damnis. Lux ea, quae populi dant Petri festa cathine His te de nebulis tulit ad loca lucis amoenae.“…your name is Margarita, which you join in character.” 125 As all extant sources known to this author state Margaret was interred at Monreale right after the occasion of her death, it is appropriate to assume that the location of her tomb was arranged prior to her passing. This is supported in part by the inscription over her tomb (although this could have also been added after her internment) but is supported more strongly by the female saints in the same transept, a grouping unique to Monreale and so representative of the queen’s life that they most likely were chosen by her prior to her death. Demus held that the cathedral’s original mosaics likely date from the early 1180s (Margaret’s death occurring in ’83) to 1189 (the date of William II’s death).

50 Norman-Sicilian structures in and around the city of Palermo set a clear precedent for the association of the northern side of a cathedral with royalty and, especially in funerary contexts, kings.126 Both northern transepts of the Cathedral of Cefalù and the Cappella Palatina display this connection to the royal presence. Undoubtedly both sites were known to and frequented by

Margaret following her marriage to William I in 1149.127 Consideration of these earlier royal foundations strengthens the case for Margaret’s purposeful selection of her burial site within

Monreale.

At Cefalù (figure 4.4), a cathedral founded by Margaret’s father-in-law Roger II c. 1131, several elements were employed to emphasize a connection between the northern side of the building and the Norman Hauteville monarchy. Allocating the northern transept—the location situated to the right of the apse in eastern-oriented cathedrals—to a royal audience signaled that those buried there were among the elect at the “right hand of Christ,” a metaphor ratified by the image of the Pantokrator image in the apse and, of course, the position of the high altar.128 From the privileged location royals (most significantly Roger II, who would have occupied a sedes regia or royal throne placed against the northern wall of the sanctuary) were treated to biblical imagery that favored monarchial claims to power. This type of imagery included biblical kings, allusions to Roger’s coronation, and saints such as Saint Nicholas (considered by the Normans to be a protector of kings), each image underscoring assertions of Roger II’s divine and specifically

Christian right to rule over a populace that had, until very recently, been governed by an Islamic

126 Otto Demus, The Mosaics of Norman Sicily (Hacker Art Books, 1988). 127 Jacqueline Alio, Margaret Queen of Sicily (Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 336. 128 Mark Joseph Johnson, The Episcopal and Royal Views at Cefalù (International Center of Medieval Art, 1994), pp. 120. Johnson specifies that, while Pantokrator iconography is typically employed in a dome in the Middle- Byzantine tradition, Cefalù’s lack of a dome lead to the Pantokrator’s instillation, “in the conch of the apse, dominating the decoration.”

51 emir. Accordingly, the mosaic content opposite Cefalù’s northern transept spoke to the reality that the space was reserved for royal viewership.129

The tradition of employing imagery in the northern transept that catered towards a royal audience would be further implemented at the Cappella Palatina and, ultimately, at Monreale.

The Cappella Palatina (c. 1132) (figure 4.5), commissioned only one year after Cefalù, was another structure financed by Roger II.130 Physically connected to the Norman Palace in Palermo

(the Palazzo dei Normanni), the Cappella Palatina is royal by its very nature as a palace chapel.131 This obvious connection is present throughout the space, though nowhere more emphatically than in the chapel’s northern transept where the royal loggia, a box reserved for the monarchial observation of mass, was situated.132 This location would have been routinely

129 Mark Joseph Johnson, The Episcopal and Royal Views at Cefalù (International Center of Medieval Art, 1994), pp. 120. Imagery facing the sedes regia, or “royal seat” on the north side of the cathedral (including the northern wall of the presbytery) included depictions of biblical kings (David, Solomon) portrayed in Byzantine dress similar to that worn by Roger II and holding scrolls depicting Latin inscriptions typically associated with Byzantine kingship: “David’s reads: ‘Audi filia et vide et inclina aurem tuam (Psalm 44/45:10),’ a verse often depicted in Byzantine representations of the king. Solomon’s inscription is unique, but it forms a nice pendant as it reads; ‘Audi filii in [sic: fili mi] precepta patris tui (Prov. 1:80).’ The filia in David’s inscription may refer to the church, though perhaps together they were direction to the heirs of Roger as an admonishment to follow the instructions of their father in maintaining the strong royal ties of the cathedral” (Johnson, 127). Further allusions to kingship are present, including references to Roger II’s coronation through the grouping of David, Solomon, and Abraham: the three are included in the ordo coronationis, which was used in Roger II’s own coronation in 1130. Further saints important to the Norman royalty are included facing the northern side, including St. Nicholas (a favorite saint of the Normans who was considered a protector of Norman kings). In regard to the royal throne’s location, it was likely against the northern wall of the sanctuary rather than the northern wall of the northern transept, because Roger II had been declared royal legate he was permitted to participate in mass. 130 Otto Demus, The Mosaics of Norman Sicily (Hacker Art Books, 1988), pp. 27. 131 Ernst Kitzinger, “The Mosaics of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo: An Essay on the Choice and Arrangement of Subjects” (The Art Bulletin, 1949). William Tronzo, The Cultures of His Kingdom: Roger II and the Cappella Palatina in Palermo (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1997). 132 Ibid. Otto Demus, The Mosaics of Norman Sicily (Hacker Art Books, 1988). Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts.” Dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994: 176. https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search- proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078.

52 occupied by the royal family and originally included a private chapel for the monarchs.133 As in the Cathedral of Cefalù, the Cappella Palatina displays the image of the Pantokrator in the apse

(again implicating the Norman monarchs at the right hand of Christ) as well as imagery on the south wall of the southern transept visible from the northern transept that would have appealed to a royal audience, further solidifying the royal connotations of the transept in mid-twelfth century projects sponsored by the Norman-Sicilian royal family.134

Arguably, the most overt connection between the designation of space in Norman-

Sicilian structures and the spatial hierarchies at Monreale is the reservation of the northern transept of Cefalù as Roger II’s future mausoleum. In 1145, the king specifically named the cathedral as his future resting place, donating two porphyry sarcophagi to the structure with the stipulation that one—for his own burial—be placed in the northern transept while the other was to be positioned in the southern transept, there to serve either as the tomb for his third wife,

Beatrice of Rethel, or as a commemorative monument to his name and legacy.135 Roger’s funerary decisions reinforced royal associations with the transept in Norman Cathedrals and churches and effectively designated it the expected burial location for the highest ranking

133 Ernst Kitzinger, “The Mosaics of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo: An Essay on the Choice and Arrangement of Subjects” (The Art Bulletin, 1949). The Cappella Palatina has, to quote Kitzinger, “suffered heavily from restoration” over the years. Much of this restoration has, unfortunately, taken place in the northern transept, leaving scholars to rely on primary source texts and records of damage and restoration rather than visual observation. Swedish art historian Ingamaj Beck, whose work is deeply indebted to both Kitzinger and Demus, focuses much of her analysis of the Cappella Palatina on royal views from the northern transept and records of original mosaic programs utilized within the transept itself. Ingamaj Beck, “The First Mosaics of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo” (Byzantion, 1970). 134 “...this transept gives us the most clearly thought out expression of the divine origin of Roger’s kingship...” Ingamaj Beck, “The First Mosaics of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo” (Byzantion, 1970). Beck goes on to detail the royal program (focusing on iterations of restoration). 135 Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen, Medieval Islamic Symbolism and the Paintings in the Cefalù Cathedral (Brill, 1986). Otto Demus, The Mosaics of Norman Sicily (Hacker Art Books, 1988). The intended use for the second sarcophagus is not specified but has been hypothesized by authors such as Gelfer-Jørgensen and Demus. It is also important to note that, although Roger did specifically state he was to be buried in Cefalù’s northern transept, his body was not interred there as per his wishes. Instead, due to the state of ecclesiastical politics at the time of his death, his body was interred in the Cathedral of Palermo.

53 member of the Norman-Hauteville monarchy. This very public designation of the transept by the king would be emulated by Margaret in the northern transept of Monreale; in the same manner observed at Cefalù, Margaret would become the focal point of the highly privileged transept, effectively positioning herself as a ruler of the same standing as the (intended) occupant of

Cefalù’s northern transept, Roger II.

The Saints

In addition to the location of her tomb, the six female saints (figures 4.6, 4.7) opposite

Queen Margaret’s final resting place strongly suggest her personal involvement in the construction and decoration of Monreale. Where prior records ignore Margaret, her voice and perspective deemed unworthy of record by patriarchal biases, the northern transept celebrates her person in a visual fashion. The images introduced to the northern transept, a location associated with royalty, allude obliquely to details of Margaret’s personal life and the idea of Christian queenship rather than Christian kingship. These six mosaic portraits and the hagiographies they invoke deeply resonate with Margaret’s own biography. In addition to their unique grouping, iconographic details suggest Margaret’s direct involvement in the selection both of the saintly ensemble and its location.

The female saints that will be discussed in the following pages are all early Christian, and the majority of their vitae focus on the women’s’ steadfast faith in the face of torture and death.136 Beyond these thematic similarities, however, there is no obvious reason why they

136 Each of the saints being early Christian is interesting to consider given it is one of the few things (other than their relation to Margaret’s life) that connects them in terms of similarities. I hypothesize that their designation as early Christian may have been appealing to the queen as regards her relationship with Rome and, more specifically, Pope Alexander III. Without the help of the pope, the foundation of Monreale may have never been realized. Early Christian saints by their nature were mascots for pro-papacy causes; they were the (historical of apocryphal) figures fighting to legitimize their religion and are often viewed as heroes of the church. Hyde, Walter Woodburn. “The Volcanic History of Etna.” Geographical Review 1, no. 6 (1916): pp. 401–18. https://doi.org/10.2307/207484.

54 appear in Monreale’s northern transept apart from the interests of that space’s powerful occupant. Some of the female saints pictured appeared in early Norman-Sicilian cathedrals

(particularly the Cappella Palatina of Roger II), but their appearance as a group is unique to

Monreale. By analyzing the iconography and vita of each saint portrayed in the northern transept, the following discussion seeks to highlight the connections between the saints and the person probably responsible for their selection.137 As we will see, the grouping functions as a personal devotional icon painted with the devotee’s favored saints, a carefully curated group of women whose lives Queen Margaret understood and with whom she probably identified.138 This conclusion relates to observations regarding icon production during the Crusades made by scholars Jaroslav Folda and Kurt Weitzmann.139 Examined in the context of provenance and authorship, both scholars provide an excellent example of a twelfth-century icon that features, as in Monreale’s northern transept, a very unlikely grouping of six saints (figure 4.8).140

Identification of the saints present on this icon (referred to by Weitzmann as Sinai Icon, Six

Saints), not only allows for a hypothesis regarding the origin of the icon’s maker; the unconventional grouping of saints suggests they are a group personally selected by the patron, representative of their interests during the Crusades. Though differing in scale, the Sinai icon and the saints of Monreale’s northern transept mirror each other in likely purpose: both are, likely, compilations personalized for a patron whose selection of six saints reveals—to varying degrees—aspects of the individual’s life and interests. The female saints at Monreale, therefore,

137 Understanding this connection supports the claim that Margaret specifically chose the ensemble, therefore purposely designating the northern transept as a space meant to honor herself after death, paralleling that seen at Cefalù, where Roger II designated the same space as his personal mausoleum. 138 Jaroslav Folda, Crusader Art in the Holy Land, from the Third Crusade to the Fall of Acre: 1187- 1291 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005). Kurt Weitzmann, “Icon Painting in the Crusader Kingdom,” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 20 (1966): pp. 51-89, https://doi.org/10.2307/1291242. 139 Ibid. 140 Ibid. Weitzmann concludes the icon likely dates to the late twelfth century, with a terminus ante quem of 1187 when Jerusalem was captured by Saladin.

55 speak to Margaret’s personal involvement in the cathedral’s royally-charged northern transept, a space that would one day house her tomb.

The saints in question at Monreale are placed on either side of the portal leading from sanctuary to transept (figure 4.9). Beginning on the western side of the arch (located on the transept’s north-facing wall) they depict, from top to bottom, Saint Margaret, Saint Radegund, and Saint Julitta with her son Quiricus; on the eastern side, in the same descending order, Saint

Restituta, Saint Catherine, and, finally, Saint Venera.141 Each of these saints follows a standard compositional template indicative of a common visual language prevalent throughout the

Medieval Mediterranean—one derived from Byzantine traditions of icon production.142 Although each image will be described in its own right, it is important to note that between the six women there is very little deviation from the same standard template. Each saint is haloed and static, situated in the center of a framed, rectilinear space filled with golden tesserae, a typical visual indication of holiness. As discussed by Henry Maguire, female saints were rarely depicted with specific, individualized features.143 Instead, they were typically portrayed as young and beautiful, their external beauty a visual indication of internal virtue. At Monreale, this strict adherence to an established visual template—one that rarely allowed for individual distinction—is paralleled

141 Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts.” Dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994. https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078. Martin Thom, Annliese Nef, and Sulamith Brodbeck, “Monreale from Its Origin to the End of the Middle Ages,” in A Companion to Medieval Palermo: the History of a Mediterranean City from 600 to 1500 (Leiden: Brill, 2013), pp. 383-413. 142 Henry Maguire, The Icons of Their Bodies: Saints and Their Images in Byzantium (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000). 143 Henry Maguire, The Icons of Their Bodies: Saints and Their Images in Byzantium (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000). Maguire writes at length about the different portrait types used to describe Christian saints. Male saints were often distinguished by their facial hair, age, etc. Women, however, were more difficult to distinguish, given their lack of facial hair and the use of veils/head coverings. At Monreale hair is shown, but this does not seem to be a feature meant to aid in identification. Women were also shown almost exclusively as youthful and beautiful. It is important to note that female saints were occasionally displayed with attributes relating to their vitae. This was, however, fairly rare for women and does not occur at Monreale.

56 in the vitae of the women themselves, the narrative details of which are often similar. While individually many of the saints are fairly common, their grouping is anything but; as a whole they are an exceptionally unique sextet, brought together through their intrinsic connections with

Queen Margaret’s biography.

Saint Margaret

Portrayed in her mosaic depiction at Monreale holding a crown, the image of Saint

Margaret (figure 4.10) resonates with the biography of the Queen of Sicily, echoing the first lines of the latter’s inlaid epitaph on the opposite wall that begins by recognizing Margaret’s royal lineage. Sulasmith Brodbeck has compared the portrait of Margaret with another image of the same Saint at the Cappella Palatina (figure 4.11).144 Brodbeck asserts that the Cappella Palatina image was likely the inspiration for the Saint’s composition at Monreale. It is significant, therefore, that the Monreale Saint Margaret holds a crown rather than the cross held by the

Cappella Palatina image.145 Despite restoration in 1818 following a fire in the northern transept,

Brodbeck states that the current Monreale portrait remains true to the twelfth-century original: the saint, draped in a blue cloak over red robes, is portrayed in a front-facing stance, right hand palm-out in a gesture of witness and left holding her crown against a backdrop of otherworldly gold, a traditional composition for the depiction of a Christian saint.

Born in the late third century during the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian, Saint

Margaret was the daughter of Theodosius, a pagan priest of Antioch.146 Despite her parentage,

144 Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 585-587. 145 Ibid, pp. 587. Brodbeck traces the saint’s display of a crown to a tenth century codex produced in Fulda, Germany. The codex includes illuminations depicting the full cycle of Saint Margaret’s life, including an episode where Saint Margaret is crowned a holy queen by the Virgin Mary. Brodbeck does not expand on this scene but does include other examples of St. Margaret with a crown in Campania (including a painting of Saint Margaret wearing a crown in a crypt in Mottola, dating to the late thirteenth century). 146 Glanville Downey, History of Antioch (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019).

57 she was raised by a nurse who, unbeknownst to Theodosius, was a practicing Christian.147

Consequently, Margaret was raised Christian, a religion thoroughly abhorred by her pagan father.148 In the mid-thirteenth century Golden Legend, Jacobus de Voragine related that the occasion of Margaret’s martyrdom was a chance encounter with the Roman prefect Olybrius.149

Upon finding Margaret sleeping among her nurse’s sheep, Olybrius was overwhelmed by lust and demanded of his entourage, “Go and carry off this girl! If she is free-born I shall take her to wife; if she is a slave, I shall have her for a concubine.”150 His demands carried out, Margaret was brought to Olybrius, who inquired about her identity. Pleased by her parentage and appearance but angered by her steadfast support of Christianity, Olybrius ordered Margaret thrown in prison.151

The next day, Olybrius summoned the young girl and demanded she renounce

Christianity in order to be eligible for marriage. Margaret refused, and in response she was

147 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 1925), pp. 351- 354. Thomas Head, Medieval Hagiography: An Anthology (New York, NY: Routledge, 2001). Hippolyte Delehaye, The Legends of the Saints: An Introduction to Hagiography (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1961). Jacobus states that Saint Margaret’s hagiography was recorded by Theotimus. No context regarding Theotimus is given in The Golden Legend, but he is presumed by scholars such as Hippolyte Delehaye (who refers to him as the “attendant of Saint Margaret”) and Head to be a fictional figure meant to be viewed as a first-hand witness of the saint’s life. This invention of authorship was often used by Jacobus to help legitimize the hagiographies recorded in The Golden Legend. 148 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 1925), pp. 351- 354. 149 Ibid. Thomas Head, Medieval Hagiography: An Anthology (New York, NY: Routledge, 2001). Head states that, although Olybrius is not found in any historical record, his position as prefect was typical of the period and geographical location. 150 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 1925), pp. 351- 354. 151 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 1925), pp. 352. “And when the child was brought to him, he questioned her upon her condition, her name, and her religion. She answered that she was of noble estate, that her name was Margaret, and that she was a Christian. Then the prefect said: ‘The first two of these three things are most seemly for thee. For all in thee is noble, and no pearl can equal thy beauty. But the third befits thee not, namely that a damsel so fair and so noble should have for god one that was crucified.’ And she asked: ‘How knowest thou that Christ was crucified?’ ‘I have read it in the books of the Christians,’ he answered. And Margaret said: ‘Since thou hast read these books, thou hast seen both the Passion of Christ and His glory. How canst thou believe the one and deny the other?’ Thereupon she expounded to him how Christ had freely accepted his death for our redemption, but that now He lived in the glory of eternal life. Angered at this, the prefect threw her into prison.” This section is interesting as Olybrius’ anger is largely spurred by being outwitted by Margaret.

58 bound to the rack and beaten with rods, maintaining her belief in Christianity despite a torture so brutal not even the perpetrator could watch. Olybrius instead hid behind his mantel while “all her bones were laid bare, and [the] blood poured forth from her body as from a pure spring.”152

Unable to stand the sight of Margaret’s torture, the prefect returned the beaten child to her prison cell, the space filling up with a bright light upon her arrival. There, bereft and partially dismembered, Margaret cried out, asking her Lord to make visible the true enemy that strove against her. Her wish granted, there appeared an incarnation of the devil, described by Jacobus as

“a hideous dragon, who sought to throw himself upon her and devour her.”153 Though many iconographic approaches to this event exist, the most common shows the fearsome dragon attempting to eat Margaret, who counters with the sign of the cross, causing the dragon to vanish.

Later, the devil would return to Margaret, this time as a young man rather than a dragon.

However, this iteration was also vanquished by Margaret, who slammed her right foot upon him and stated, “Proud demon, lie prostrate beneath a woman’s foot!”154 To this the devil (very quickly) surrendered, labeling Margaret as his conqueror before disappearing.155 The girl's victory over the devil, however, did little to stay her impending execution: the following day, still refusing to renounce Christianity and marry Olybrius, Margaret was set on fire, plunged in water, and finally beheaded at the prefect’s command.156 Before her death, Margaret asked for

152 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 1925), pp. 351- 354. 153 Ibid. 154 Ibid. 155 Ibid. As is expected for a text meant, in large part, to glorify the deeds that lead to sainthood, Jacobus’ devil doesn’t put up much of a fight against the teenage Margaret. As Jacobus writes, after Margaret places her foot on the devil, he cries out, “O Margaret, I am conquered! And to complete my humiliation, my conqueror is a young girl, whose parents were my friends.” The devil’s statement kills two birds with one stone as he casts Margaret, a devout Christian, as the unlikely hero prevailing against not only him, but her parents and anyone following a pagan religion. The statement also reinforces the propagandistic idea that any religion other than Christianity was an idolatrous heresy produced by the devil, and therefore part of the Christian canon anyway, just on the devil’s side rather than Christ’s. By that logic, all pagans were not only heretics but disillusioned Satanists to the Christian viewer. 156 Ibid.

59 the allowance to say a prayer both for herself and the future pious who might invoke her aid.

She prayed that “whenever a woman in labour should call upon her name, the child might be brought forth without harm.”157 Henceforward she was regarded as the patron saint of pregnant women and was used by the church as a model of piety in the face of persecution.

As her namesake, as a patron saint of expectant mothers and, as her vita relates, an unwilling party to an arranged marriage, it is clear that Queen Margaret would have identified strongly with Saint Margaret. Margaret of Navarre was born in 1135 in the Northern Spanish town of Laguardia to scions of two powerful families. Her father, García Ramírez (grandson of the famed Castilian military leader Rodrigo known as El Cid) and her mother, Margaret of Aigle

(daughter of the Franco-Norman Lord Gilbert of Aigle and Juliana of Perche), would be crowned

King and Queen of Pamplona in the same year as her birth.158 As a result, Margaret and her siblings, Blanca and Sancho, were raised as royals and enjoyed a life of privilege in the family’s primary residence at Pamplona.159 An idyllic childhood was cut short, however, by the death of

Margaret of Aigle in 1141.160 Though only six at the time of her mother’s passing, Margaret, along with her sister Blanca, was sent to live in a convent as their father was often away from

157 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 1925), pp. 351- 354. 158 Elena Lourie, “The Will of Alfonso I, ‘El Batallador’, King of Aragon and Navarre: A Reassessment” (University of Chicago Press, 1975). Germán de Pamplona, “Filiación y derechos al trono de Navarra de García Ramírez el Restaurador” (Principe de Viana 10, 1949). Kathleen Thompson, Power and Border Lordship in Medieval France: The County of the Perche, 1000-1226 (Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, 2013), pp. 72-75. 159 Department of Islamic Art, “The Art of the Almoravid and Almohad Periods (Ca. 1062-1269),” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001). The city of Pamplona offered García Ramírez a sense of refuge from his days as a knight at war and would serve as a relatively peaceful setting for a primary residence. 160 From 1135 to 1141 the children’s lives were fairy serene, the addition of a brother in 1139 the only major event. The child, a son named Rodrigo (named after García’s renowned grandfather, El Cid), was conceived at a time when García was away from court—a commonality for the King, who desired serenity but was often engaged with legislative duties throughout Navarre. The birth of Rodrigo prompted significant controversy, as recorded by the historian Hugo Falcandus in his highly critical Liber de Regno Sicilie (1154-1196). Margaret of Aigle became a figure of contention in court and the focus of lascivious gossip. Her reputation disgraced, Margaret died in 1141 (Falcandus suggests her death was due to humiliation. No legitimate cause of death is given).

60 court due to diplomatic duties.161 The two sisters were subsequently raised by the nuns of

Pamplona and instructed with an eye toward their future as royal or noble wives and mothers, probably with attention to the political realities such duties entailed. Thus, like the saint with whom she shared her name, Margaret’s adolescence was molded largely by the hands of devoutly Christian women, her adolescence spent without her parents.

By 1148 negotiations were underway for the then thirteen-year-old princess Margaret to wed the sole heir of Roger II of Sicily, the twenty-eight year old William I.162 Following the marriage, Margaret’s title changed from Navarrese princess to Queen designate. Her purpose as viewed by medieval society also changed; where previously she was to be a suitable vehicle for a high-ranking matrimonial alliance, her primary focus following marriage shifted to childbearing.

In 1152 Margaret gave birth to her first child, a son named Roger. Over the course of six years she would give birth to three more sons, Robert, William, and Henry, and while her marriage to

William I was anything but a happy one, she was deeply devoted to her children.163 As such, it is easy to see how Margaret could have self-identified with Saint Margaret, particularly due to her priorities as a mother and, on a social level, the expectation that she provide male heirs.

Saint Radegund

Below the image of Saint Margaret is that of Saint Radegund of Poitiers (figure 4.12).

Radegund is situated in the center of her mosaic frame, her full body described in the static pose of one to be revered against a backdrop of gold tesserae. In her left hand she holds a cross, while her right is raised palm-outward in a sign of witness. Her dress, however, diverges from the

161 Jacqueline Alio, Margaret Queen of Sicily (New York City, NY: Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 91-93. 162 Ibid. 163 Magdalena E. Carrasco, "Spirituality in Context: The Romanesque Illustrated Life of St. Radegund of Poitiers” (Poitiers, Bibl. 1990) pp. 416.

61 typical monochrome drapery applied to most of the other depictions in the group of female saints. Instead, the French Saint Radegund is dressed as an imperial Byzantine princess, crowned with an ornate kamelaukion complete with two strings of pearls that meet her shoulders (figures

4.13, 4.14).164 An almost identical depiction of Saint Radegund is present at the Cappella

Palatina (figure 4.15); as with the image of Saint Margaret, it is very likely the Palatine Chapel version of Radegund served as an inspiration for that portrayed in Monreale’s northern transept.

The saint’s Byzantine dress in both locations—in part reflective of the likely Greek origin of the mosaicists—speaks to Norman aspirations to power and prestige.165 Upon her transfer to Sicily,

Margaret would have wanted to transform herself into a Byzantine princess, prompted by the desire to be viewed not as a foreign princess of French and Navarrese heritage, but as the queen of one of the most powerful kingdoms in the Mediterranean world.166 At Monreale, the iconographic transformation of Radegund parallels the literal transformation of Margaret of

Navarre.

Saint Radegund’s French origins and lack of martyrdom cause her to stand out from the other five women, all of whom hail from the Mediterranean and were met with a violent end in the name of their religion. However, when considered along with the biography of Queen

Margaret—and with consideration of Margaret’s French ancestry—an explanation for

Radegund’s inclusion is easy to adduce. Born c. 520, Saint Radegund of Poitiers began her life as Princess Radegund of Thuringia, daughter of Bertachar, one of three co-kings of the

164 Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 671-675. 165 Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts.” Dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994. https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078. 166 Ibid. Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 671-675.

62 Thuringian realm.167 However, her time in Thuringia was brief, cut short by tragedy and her abduction. According to her contemporary, the Latin poet Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530-603) in his poem The Life of the Holy Radegund,

She had lived with her noble family only a little while when the victorious Franks devastated the

region...The royal girl became part of the plunder of these conquerors and they began to quarrel

over their captive. Falling to the lot of the illustrious King Clothar, she was taken to Athies in

Vermandois, a royal villa, and her upbringing was entrusted to guardians.168

As recorded by Fortunatus, Radegund was captured by Frankish invaders, most notably the

Merovingian King Chlothar I who took the young girl as a war prize (figure 4.16, 4.17). Chlothar desired the then eight-year-old Radegund to one day become his fifth wife and sent her to France for an education fit for a future Merovingian queen.169

Radegund’s education in France did not yield the results desired by her captor; instead of accepting her fate as Chlothar’s bride, Radegund became extreme in her piety, going so far as to express to the children schooled alongside her that she “desired to be a martyr if the chance came in her time.”170 The young girl’s years at Athies were littered with such anecdotes, some

167 Peter Neumeister, “The Ancient Thuringians: Problems of Names and Family Connections” in The Baiuvarii and Thuringi; An Ethnographic Perspective. (Boydell Press, 2014). Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, J.R. Martindale, and John Morris, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 2, AD 395-527, vol. 2 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1980). Thuringia, or the Realm of Thuringia, was and continues to be a region in central Germany. Its capital city is Erfurt, where Radegund was born. As regards King Burtachar, there is some evidence calling his nationality into question, although it is generally agreed he was co-king along with his two brothers Hermanfrid and Baderic. 168 Venantius Fortunatus, The Life of the Holy Radegund (c. 587-600). Poem accessed from the following source: Jo Ann McNamara, John E Halborg, and E Gordon Whatley, “St. Radegund” in Sainted Women of the Dark Ages (Duke University Press, 1992), pp. 70-86. 169 Sarah Gallick, The Big Book of Women Saints (Harper San Francisco, 2007), pp. 243. Radegund would become the fifth of Chlothar’s seven wives. 170 Venantius Fortunatus, The Life of the Holy Radegund (c. 587-600). Poem accessed from the following source: Jo Ann McNamara, John E Halborg, and E Gordon Whatley, “St. Radegund” in Sainted Women of the Dark Ages (Duke University Press, 1992), pp. 70-86.

63 displaying her selfless nature, while others directly related to her veneration of Christ.171 This munificence and piousness only increased as Radegund grew—with age she dreaded more and more the prospect of becoming Chlothar’s wife. Instead, she desired to remain a virgin and devote her life to work more befitting a nun than a queen.172

Unable to escape a “terrestrial” marriage (though deeply desiring a “celestial” one),

Radegund became Chlothar’s fifth queen around the year 540. However, her new royal status only inspired in her greater piety as she considered herself “more Christ’s partner than her husband’s.”173 So frequent were her acts of godliness that Fortunatus himself admitted to omitting many from his Life of the Holy Radegund stating, “the more secular power was bestowed upon her, the more humbly she bent her will...[here] we will only attempt to publicize a few of the many things she did during this period of her life.”174 However, Radegund did not show her piety solely with public displays of charity and humility; the queen also wore a hairshirt under her cloak during the period of Lent, and lay beneath one after intercourse (as

Fortunatus tells it, naked and in the cold) to atone for her sins.175 Her shame as regards Chlothar palpable, the king’s relationship to his wife was distant and often cruel. Their union was to be short-lived.

171 Fortunatus states that Radegund was known to feed, wash, and care for local children, clean and polish the altar of her church with her own dress, and organize her playmates into a psalm-singing, cross carrying congregation that was known to “troop into the oratory as somber as adults.” 172Sarah Gallick, The Big Book of Women Saints (Harper San Francisco, 2007), pp. 243. Venantius Fortunatus, The Life of the Holy Radegund (c. 587-600). Poem accessed from the following source: Jo Ann McNamara, John E Halborg, and E Gordon Whatley, “St. Radegund” in Sainted Women of the Dark Ages (Duke University Press, 1992), pp. 70-86. Radegund’s desperation to avoid the future set before her was so great that upon being made aware Chlothar considered her old enough for marriage, she unsuccessfully attempted to escape. 173 Jo Ann McNamara, John E Halborg, and E Gordon Whatley, “St. Radegund” in Sainted Women of the Dark Ages (Duke University Press, 1992), pp. 70-86 174 Ibid. These included a near constant almsgiving, the donation of gifts to monasteries (sometimes delivering them on foot), and a streak of charity so active that “there was no hermit who could hide from her...the voice of the needy was not raised in vain for she never turned a deaf ear...thus the devout lady, queen by birth and marriage, mistress of the palace, served the poor as a handmaid.” 175 Jo Ann McNamara, John E Halborg, and E Gordon Whatley, “St. Radegund” in Sainted Women of the Dark Ages (Duke University Press, 1992), pp. 70-86

64 After six years of marriage, Chlothar, desiring to secure his power in Thuringia, found and murdered Radegund’s brother—the only surviving male of the Thuringian royal family.

Horrified, the queen fled the court and began a pilgrimage that would lead her to Noyon, where she was consecrated as a deaconess and subsequently freed from her marriage.176 Finally able to live the charitable life she desired, Radegund travelled to Poitiers where she performed miracles and was divinely inspired to found both a funerary church and abbey (figure 4.18), the latter eventually housing over two hundred women.177 The rest of her life utterly devoted to the study of scripture, charity, and an often extreme asceticism, Radegund died at her monastery in Poitiers in 587.178

Following her consecration, Radegund was invoked for healing and became a patron saint of the unjustly imprisoned. The latter designation stems from an anecdote from Radegund’s time at Chlothar’s court, when the queen, while walking in the palace gardens, heard the cries of prisoners. Reminded of her own captivity, Radegund began to pray for those unjustly jailed by her husband: as she prayed, the shackles of the prisoners were said to have broken, freeing those who were not deserving of their punishment.179 Radegund’s identity as champion of the wrongly imprisoned probably led Margaret of Navarre to include her in the northern transept ensemble at

Monreale. As discussed above, one of Margaret of Navarre’s first acts as Queen Regent in 1166 was to reinstate the Assizes of Ariano, a collection of laws first established by Roger II that had been largely ignored by Margaret’s husband, William I. In accordance with the Assizes,

Margaret embarked on a campaign to free all of those who had been unreasonably imprisoned

176 Sarah Gallick, The Big Book of Women Saints (Harper San Francisco, 2007), pp. 243. 177 Ibid. 178 Ibid. Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, Encyclopedia of Women in Religious Art (The Continuum Publishing Company, 1996), pp. 310. 179 Sarah Gallick, The Big Book of Women Saints (Harper San Francisco, 2007), pp. 243.

65 for petty crimes under the rule of her husband. A large number of prisoners were freed, righting injustices perpetrated by William I and garnering public support for a monarchy that had long been hindered by ignoring good governance. Furthermore, Radegund epitomized the experience of a “captive woman,” her early life determined by the wars of men. Queen Margaret could have easily associated herself with the saint’s matrimonial experience: only after being freed from their marriages, both of which were characterized by a lack of mutual affection, were the French saint and Sicilian queen able to pursue their own interests. For Radegund, this meant the nunnery and a life of charity; for Margaret, the ability to experience a semblance of control over her life.

After the death of her husband, Margaret was able to act independently and work to unravel the administrative chaos William I had left behind. Finally, Monreale and its designation as a funerary church—a function likely championed by Margaret— resonates with Radegund’s foundation of a funerary church in Poitiers.180

Saint Julitta and Quiricus

The final portrait on the west side of the portal depicts not one, but two figures. The lowest register is home to a mosaic depiction of Saint Julitta and her three-year-old son, Saint

Quiricus (figure 4.19). Julitta, who displays the strict frontality shared by the saints above her, takes up the majority of the space allotted to the pair. Depicted in a blue dress, her shoulders draped in a red cloak and her head covered by a veil, Julitta gazes out at the viewer while displaying a cross in her left hand and a gesture of witness with her right. Slightly in front of her

180 Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts.” Dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994. https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078, pp. 177. “She [Margaret] very likely provided the impetus to transform Monreale into a royal burial church, and in so doing made arrangements for her own tomb...Lello indicates that it was at her express wish that the remains of William I were transferred from the Cappella Palatina to Monreale, though it took place after her death.”

66 stands the young Quiricus, dressed in a similar fashion to his mother, though he is inverse to her in color and gesture: the child wears red robes and a cloak of blue, while grasping a cross in his right hand. As present in the images of the other five saints, mother and son are shown with large halos behind their heads made up of the same golden tesserae filling the space where they reside.

Hailing from third-century Iconium (modern-day Konya of south central Turkey), Julitta was a Christian woman of noble birth.181 Frightened by the looming threat of persecution, she fled with her three-year-old son Quiricus to the city of Tarsus in the hopes of finding refuge.

However, upon her arrival to the city she was quickly apprehended by a Roman prefect named

Alexander.182 Arrested by the prefect, Julitta was led to the city’s tribunal to be questioned for her faith. Seeing her a prisoner, two servants who had accompanied Julitta to Tarsus fled for fear of associated retribution. She was left in chains to bring her son with her to her trial. What followed was a particularly gruesome display of torture both physical and psychological.

After refusing to worship pagan idols set before her, Julitta was torn from Quiricus and whipped in front of him. The child, frightened by his mother’s screams, began to cry.

Alexander—ironically the instigator of Julitta’s torture and Quiricus’ fear—attempted to console the young boy. According to Jacobus de Voragine,

In vain the prefect, holding [Quiricus] in his lap, tried to quiet him with kisses and caresses: the

infant repulsed these blandishments with horror, coming as they did from his mother’s tormentor,

181 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 1925), pp. 316- 317. William Granger Ryan and Eamon Duffy, “Saint Quiricus and His Mother Saint Julitta” in The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 2012), pp. 323-324. Iconium was located in modern-day south central Turkey 182 Elinor M. Husselman, “The Martyrdom of Cyriacus and Julitta in Coptic” (Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 1965), pp. 79-86. Alexander was, as seen with Olybrius in the hagiography of St. Margaret, likely a fictitious individual meant to represent the role of Roman prefects as a whole.

67 and scratched [the prefect’s] face with his nails, crying as if he wished to say: ‘I too am a

Christian!’183

Enraged, the prefect Alexander, in view of Julitta, “hurled [the child] from the tribunal, and his brains were spilt upon the steps.”184 Julitta, distraught but consoled that at least her son had

“gone before her into the heavenly realm,” was flayed alive and boiled in pitch before finally being beheaded at Alexander’s command.

Following the Edict of Milan in 313, the then-sainted Julitta and Quiricus became increasingly popular figures in funerary contexts, particularly due to the aftermath of their murders in Tarsus.185 As goes the legend, Alexander demanded the mother and son be “cut piecemeal [and] scattered to the wind” in order to discourage any attempts at a Christian burial.

During the rule of Constantine, the pieces, having been allegedly collected by angels and secretly buried, were publicly consecrated and venerated. However, the saints’ popularity decreased when their martyrdoms were declared apocryphal in the fifth century. Following this declaration, references to the two saints were uncommon and may (in part) explain why, as observed by

Sulasmith Brodbeck, “the presentation of saints Julitta and [Quiricus] have no antecedents in

Sicilian decoration” prior to their appearance at Monreale.186

With no extant examples of Saints Julitta and Quiricus employed elsewhere in Sicily, an explanation for their presence at Monreale is best arrived at by comparing their joint hagiography

183 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 1925), pp. 316 184 Ibid. 185 Elinor M. Husselman, “The Martyrdom of Cyriacus and Julitta in Coptic” (Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 1965), pp. 79-86. 186 Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 552-555. Original text: “La représentation des saints Julitte et Cyr n’a pas d’antécédents dan les décors siciliens.” Translated by Emmaleigh Huston. Note: “Cyr” and “Cyriacus” are other names for Quiricus and have the same etymologies. Saint Cyr, it is important to note, is often revered in France, as relics of the child saint were brought to France from Antioch in the fourth century. While this could be connected to Margaret’s French ancestry, I think it more likely in this case that she was compelled by the saints’ hagiography and their connection to the themes of child healing, the loss of children, and motherhood.

68 with Queen Margaret’s biography. This mosaic’s inclusion is appropriate for a burial space intended for a mother and her sons, and Margaret’s own personal loss in many ways parallels the loss suffered by Julitta. Both women had to endure the horror of watching their child die—an experience Margaret unfortunately lived through not once, but three times with her young sons

Roger (1152-1161), Robert (1153-1159), and Henry (1158-1172).187 In 1159 six-year-old Robert passed away, his cause of death cited by historian Jacqueline Alio as “one of those illnesses that claims the lives of young children.”188 Only one year later the nine-year-old Roger also passed away, though his death was far more violent and far more avoidable than that of his younger brother.

As discussed earlier in this research, William I’s lack of authority and administrative skill led to a conspiracy among his barons, who hoped to take advantage of the king’s mismanagement and promote themselves within the administration. Their scheming began 1160 and culminated with the assassination of William I’s amiratus amiratorum, Maio of Bari.189

After the assassination, Maio’s murderer, Matthew Bonello, remained unpunished by William I

(despite pleas by Margaret) and as a free man Bonello continued to conspire and plan with his followers who sought to instigate a violent revolt.190 In late 1160, Bonello joined forces with jealous relations of both William and Margaret and, with the king as a target, the conspirators began to formulate plans for a coup.191

187 Graham A. Loud, A. Metcalfe, Society of Norman Italy (Brill, 2002). 188 No specific cause of death/type of illness is given in any sources known to this author. 189 Hiroshi Takayama, The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Leiden: Brill, 1993), pp. 7-8, 57, 66, 89, 95. 190 Graham A. Loud et al., The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by "Hugo Falcandus", 1153-69 (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998). This was likely because the king feared Matthew’s popularity and backing by powerful barons. 191 Ibid.

69 William I, despondent since the death of Maio, characteristically delegated the majority of his royal responsibilities to his remaining ministers. In contrast to her husband, Margaret remained aware, and after palace eunuchs warned her of a rumored revolt, tried to persuade the king to take a more assertive stance against the would-be-rebels. Despite her urging, William’s apathy and stubbornness remained; within months a coup took place. In 1161, the barons led by

Bonello entered the palace while the royal family attended mass. Freeing criminals imprisoned within the palace, they turned their operation from a moderately-sized rebellion to a large, vengeful mob. They then proceeded to capture the king, who was instructed to either abdicate or be put to death. Margaret and her children were likewise sequestered, while throughout the palace the mob dissolved into violence and thievery: eunuchs were murdered, ladies of the court abducted, and the treasures of the palace were looted by the opportunistic mob.192

After a full day of violence and revolt, the rebels forcefully retrieved the nine-year-old

Roger from Margaret and his brothers and paraded him through the streets of Palermo while barons declared him the new king.193 Roger’s tutor, none other than the aforementioned Walter

Ophamil who would resurface as a major adversary of Margaret, joined the revolt and publicly declared the young Roger king and William I a tyrant destined to be dethroned.194 After three consecutive days of rioting, an armed citizen’s coalition attacked the palace and demanded the barons free the king, the revolt seemingly nearing its end.195 However, relief was short-lived for

192 John Julius Norwich. The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194. Longman: London, 1970. The violence and pillaging moved beyond the palace walls; with none to serve as the focus of their rage, the mob spilled into the streets of Palermo, senselessly murdering Muslims—a group the ignorant barons blamed for the wealth they believed was hoarded by the monarchy due to the continued success of the palace diwan. 193 David Luscombe, Riley-Smith, Jonathan, eds. The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 4, C.1024-c.1198, Part II. Cambridge University Press, 2004. 194 Hiroshi Takayama, The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Leiden: Brill, 1993), pp. 7-8, 57, 66, 89, 95. Graham A. Loud et al., The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by "Hugo Falcandus", 1153-69 (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998). 195 Hiroshi Takayama, The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Leiden: Brill, 1993), pp. 7-8, 57, 66, 89, 95.

70 Margaret and her sons (Roger having been returned following his forced presentation to the crowds of Palermo). While preparing to leave the tower that had served briefly as their prison,

Roger was hit by a stray arrow shot through an open window and died in his mother’s arms.196

Roger’s death was, by the account of Hugo Falcandus, an agonizing consequence of William’s complacency; Margaret would never forgive the baronial conspirators who murdered her son, or the king who allowed it through administrative negligence.

In 1172, in a manner less violent but no less devastating, Margaret’s son Henry died from fever at the age of twelve after a trip to Capua to invest in the principality he had inherited form his late-brother, Robert. William I had died in 1166, and Margaret was left to bare the weight of her youngest son’s death alone. Margaret was left with only one surviving child,

William II.197 Without question Margaret’s life as queen was punctuated by the deaths of her children. It is therefore very likely that she readily identified with the story of Julitta and

Quiriacus. Furthermore, the saints’ connection with the healing of ill children would have also appealed to the queen, having lost two of her four sons to illness.

Saint Restituta

The uppermost saint on the eastern side of the arch—creating a symmetry with Saint

Margaret on the portal’s western side—was, originally, Saint Restituta (figure 4.20).198 As explained by Sulasmith Brodbeck in Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile:

Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle,

196 Graham A. Loud et al., The History of the Tyrants of Sicily by "Hugo Falcandus", 1153-69 (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998). 197 John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History (Random House, New York, 2015), pp. xv. 198 Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 680-682.

71 [Ernst Kitzinger’s] photographic plates show us the following inscription: S(an)C(t)A AGATHA.

The mosaic was completely redone in the years 1818-1821, when the restorers

intervened...following the fire that damaged the upper parts of the [nave] and the arms of the

transept. The identity of the saint then changed and the [earlier] figure called Restituta was

replaced with Agatha. The original name is known thanks to G. Lello, who transcribed the

following inscription: SCA RESTITUTA. The change of [saint] made at the beginning of the 19th

century is explained by the loss of popularity of Saint Restituta, revered at a local level.199

Despite this correction, some confusion remains since multiple “Saint Restitutas” were venerated in Southern Italy.200 Brodbeck agrees with Demus and Gravina in that Monreale’s Restituta was most likely meant to represent Restituta of Carthage, who Demus described as “Patron Saint of

Sicily.”201 Her vita brief and her origin ambiguous, Saint Restituta of Carthage is less known than the rest of her group in Monreale’s northern transept. However, the saint has been associated with myriad Sicilian territories, in particular Naples, Capua, and the island of

Ischia.202

199Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 680-682. Original text: “Les planches photographiques de Kitzinger nous montrent l’inscription suivante: S(an)C(t)A AGAThA. La mosaïque est entièrement refaite, dans les années 1818-1821, quand les restaurateurs interviennenet ...à la suite de l’incendie qui endommage a les parties hautes du carré central et des bras du transept. L’identité de la sainte change alors et la figure primitive qui se nommait Restitute est remplacée par Agathe. Le nom d’origine nous est connu grâs à Lello, qui retranscrit l’inscription suivante : SCA RESTITVTA. Le changement d’inscription effectué au début du XIXe siècle s’explique par la perte de popularité d esainte Restitute, vénérée à un niveau local. 200 Ibid. Restituta of Naples (also known as Restituta of Carthage or Restituta of Africa) and Restituta of Sora 201 Ibid. It is important to note that Brodbeck does acknowledge that the original portrait could be Restituta of Sora rather than Restituta of Carthage. Restituta of Sora was an early third century saint martyred in Rome, whose relics were brought to the monastery of San Martino delle Scale, only a few kilometers from Monreale. However, this transfer of relics most likely did not occur until long after Monreale was completed: Brodbeck cites L.T. White’s Latin Monasticism in Norman Sicily which states San Martino delle Scale was rebuilt in 1346 “on ancient ruins” that were likely not housing any relics prior to constructure. Brodbeck asserts that Restituta of Carthage is a far more likely identity for the saint depicted at Monreale, largely due to her presence in Ischia and her importance in Naples. 202 Vito Calise, “Santa Restituta D'Africa (o Di Teniza) ,” Santiebeati.it (Santiebeati.it, May 20, 2008), http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/53650. Ischia is considered within the administrative jurisdiction of Naples due to proximity.

72 Like the aforementioned Saints Margaret and Julitta, Restituta was born in the third century and was greatly affected by the persecution of Diocletian. Though her geographical origin is uncertain, the tenth century Neapolitan hagiographer Pietro Suddiacono, author of one of the few available passions of Saint Restituta, argued that she likely came from Tunisia on the coast near the Strait of Sicily.203 Little is known of her parentage or life prior to her martyrdom; it is widely believed, however, that she attempted to escape her city of Bizerte for fear of persecution by Roman governors. Her destination was Carthage, a city that had, by the third century, become “an illustrious episcopal seat.”204 This distinction clarifies why Restituta, a

Christian running from persecution, would choose Carthage as her destination. Unfortunately,

Restituta and a number of Christians fleeing alongside her were apprehended outside of Carthage and chained and imprisoned on the order of the Roman governor Anullinus.205 Despite the threat of torture Restituta refused to renounce Christ and make sacrifices to pagan idols. Sentenced to death, Restituta was bound and placed in a boat covered in pitch. After setting the boat and girl aflame, Roman soldiers pushed her to sea, an act that at once sentenced her to death and her body to exile. In retribution, the soldiers, upon releasing what would become Restituta’s floating pyre, were engulfed by waves and drowned; however, their deaths did nothing to stay Restituta’s

203 Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 680-682. Edoardo D'Angelo, “Pour Une Etude Litteraire Et Ecdotique Des Oeuvres De Pierre-Sous Diacre,” ed. François Dolbeau (dissertation, 1998). I have decided to refer to the hagiographer by his Italian name, Pietro Suddiacono. The name “Pierre Sous-Diacre” is used in French texts, such as Edoardo D’Angelo’s dissertation. “Sous-Diacre” in French translates to “sub-deacon.” Suddiacono states her city of birth was Bizerte (known to the Romans as Hippo Diarrhytus) 204 Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 680-682. 205 M.T. Kretschmer, “Index Of Names And Places For The Edition Of B” in Rewriting Roman History in the Middle Ages (Brill, 2007). Vito Calise, “Santa Restituta D'Africa (o Di Teniza) ,” Santiebeati.it (Santiebeati.it, May 20, 2008), http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/53650. Unlike other Roman prefects and generals mentioned in the hagiographies of Saints Margaret and Saint Julitta, Anullinus is a figure who is well documented in Roman history as the proconsular governor of the Roman province in northern Africa called Africa Proconsularis.

73 demise as the young women was already aflame.206 While adrift Restituta prayed, asking for relief as the fire consumed her.207 In response to her prayer an angel appeared, comforting her as the fire took her life. Days later the remains of Restituta, miraculously appearing unburnt in the charred craft, washed ashore on the island of Ischia, off the coast of Naples. There her body was found by a “pious matron” who had foreseen the pyre’s arrival in a dream.208 Restituta’s body was subsequently buried and consecrated in nearby Lacco Ameno (figure 4.21), where veneration of the saint continued and eventually spread throughout the gulf of Naples and

Campania.209

While Restituta’s hagiography does not connect with the biography of Queen Margaret quite as easily as those of the saints previously discussed, her connection with Naples and, in particular, the nearby principality of Capua (figure 4.22), raises an interesting possibility for

Restituta’s inclusion opposite Margaret’s tomb. Capua, a city that had been regarded as

Campania’s unofficial capital for much of the ninth century, had come under Norman rule c.1140 during the reign of Roger II.210 Following it’s absorption into the Norman kingdom of Sicily the principality became entrenched in Norman monarchial tradition as it became typical for the

206 Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 680-683. Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, Encyclopedia of Women in Religious Art (The Continuum Publishing Company, 1996), pp. 316. 207 Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 680-683. 208 Ibid. 209 Vito Calise, “Santa Restituta D'Africa (o Di Teniza),” Santiebeati.it (Santiebeati.it, May 20, 2008), http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/53650. 210 Hiroshi Takayama, “Reviewed Work: Church and Society in the Norman Principality of Capua, 1058- 1197 by G. A. Loud” in Speculum 62, no. 3 (The University of Chicago Press, 1987), pp. 704-06. For a more in- depth history of Capua (prior to and following it’s conquest by the Normans), I suggest Ferdinand Chalandon’s Histoire de la Domination Normande en Italy et en Sicily and G.A. Loud’s Church and Society in the Norman Principality of Capua, 1058-1197. Ferdinand Chalandon, Histoire de la Domination Normande en Italy et en Sicily (Paris: Librairie A. Picard et fils, 1907). G.A. Loud, Church and Society in the Norman Principality of Capua, 1058- 1197 (Oxford University Press, 1985).

74 second-in-line to the throne to act as prince of Capua.211 A largely ceremonial title, Margaret’s son Robert, the second son after first-born Roger, held the role of Capua’s prince—his father

William I having held it from 1144-1151.212 Following the deaths of Robert (1159) and Roger

(1161), the title was passed to Henry, who was then considered the second son as his brother

William II was declared heir to the Norman-Sicilian throne.213 Though little remains to contextualize the burial of Robert, Prince of Capua (the whereabouts of his tomb are today uncertain, though there is some evidence his remains may have been destroyed by fire in 1187),

Henry, who inherited his brother’s title c. 1166, was entombed next to his mother in Monreale’s northern transept shortly after the cathedral’s completion.214 Thus, Restituta’s inclusion at

Monreale could, due to her popularity in Capua and the titles held by two of Margaret’s four sons, refer to the two young princes the queen lost to illness. Of course, this hypothesis is incomplete—with nothing to visually analyze due to its replacement in the nineteenth century and little in the way of recorded historiography, Restituta’s inclusion in the northern transept is,

211 Hiroshi Takayama, The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Leiden: Brill, 1993). Jacqueline Alio, Margaret Queen of Sicily (Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 125. 212 Hiroshi Takayama, The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Leiden: Brill, 1993). 213 Ibid, pp. 104. Norman politics surrounding the principality of Capua are best explored in Takayama’s The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily. 214 The location of Robert’s tomb is a mystery that has yet to be solved. He was only a child when he died and was not the heir to the Sicilian throne; therefore, his death was not recorded by chroniclers, likely due to the fact that his death was not a cause for administrative restructuring (as it would have been had Robert been older/heir/had a greater role as prince). Most texts known to this author only mention Robert as having been a son of William I and Margaret but say little of his death or his burial. Jacqueline Alio states that Robert was originally buried in a chapel connected to the Cathedral of Palermo (the Church of Mary Magdalene), and records that the church was destroyed by fire in 1187. She goes on to state, however, that “the royal tombs were moved to the new Mary Magdalene and then to Monreale.” There is no extant evidence that Robert’s tomb was ever at Monreale (texts only recognize the sarcophagi of Margaret, Henry, and Roger in the northern transept and William I and II in the southern transept). This leads me to believe Robert’s tomb was likely destroyed in the fire of 1187 or before this date. It is tempting to analyze the hypothesis that Robert’s tomb was destroyed by fire in juxtaposition with Restituta, a saint burned to death whose body remained unscathed. However, this hypothesis falls apart when chronology is considered, as the mosaics in question were likely in place prior to the fire of 1187. I believe, however, that if Robert’s tomb still existed it would be in Monreale with the rest of his family, likely with his mother and two brothers in the northern transept.

75 at most, speculative proposition. Additionally, neither Restituta nor Queen Margaret originated in Sicily; both were foreign women who found their way to the island by circumstance and sea.

Saint Catherine

Below the portrait of Saint Restituta, and in great contrast to the ambiguity of her neighbor above, is Saint Catherine of Alexandria (figure 4.23). At Monreale, Saint Catherine reiterates narrative and visual themes seen elsewhere in the northern transept’s collection of female saints. Dressed as Byzantine royalty, Saint Catherine creates a visual symmetry with the portrait opposite from her of Saint Radegund; the two echo each other in their Byzantine regalia, both alluding to Margaret’s royal lineage as described in her epitaph, and the queen’s desire to be regarded as a legitimate Mediterranean power, on par with the imperial powers of the Byzantine

Empire.215 Furthermore, in a manner similar to the hagiography of Saint Margaret, Catherine’s martyrdom is, in large part, both caused and delayed by two refusals: a refusal to renounce

Christianity (the catalyst for martyrdom) and a refusal to bend to the will of a Roman man who meant to forcibly take her as his wife (or concubine). As paralleled in Saint Margaret’s dealings with the prefect Olybrius, Saint Catherine’s unwillingness to back down deeply frustrated the perpetrator of her death. Therefore, between Saints Margaret and Catherine there exists a theme that could have appealed with Queen Margaret, a woman who was likewise and consistently underestimated during her regency.216

215 Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 671-675. Maggie Janet Duncan-Flowers, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study of Their Monastic and Funerary Contexts.” Dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate College, 1994: 176. https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search- proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/docview/304111647?accountid=15078. 216 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 1925), pp. 714.

76 As one of the most beloved and well known saints of the middle ages, Saint Catherine’s hagiography, while considered largely fictional by hagiographic scholars, is one of the most developed. Born c. 287 to King Costus of Cilicia—a region that covered a large portion of modern-day Turkey’s southern coast—Catherine was both princess and scholar, whose intensive study of Christianity led to her conversion as a young teenager.217 When Catherine was eighteen, c. 305, the Roman Emperor Maximian bid all constituents—particularly those of noble status— to travel to Alexandria and make tribute to the idols there.218 The emperor’s demand was initially refused by the Christian population, though the threat and application of torture by Maximian’s

Roman soldiers prompted many Christians to comply or face a terrible death. Upon seeing her

Christian brethren dying for their beliefs, Catherine decided to confront the emperor and left her kingdom for the city of Alexandria.219 Days later Catherine and her retinue reached Alexandria and, in large part due to Catherine’s beauty, were awarded an ordinance with Maximian. As stated by Jacobus de Voragine in his Golden Legend,

[She] made her way boldly to the emperor, and spoke as follows: “I offer thee greeting, Emperor,

not only out of deference for thy rank, but also that I may reason with thee, and persuade thee to

acknowledge the Creator of the heavens, and to renounce the worship of false gods!”...She held a

long disputation with the [emperor], arguing according to the divers modes of the syllogisms, by

allegory and metaphor, by logic and mystic...The emperor [could] find no answer to all this, but

finally, recovering himself, he said: “Suffer us, O woman, suffer us but to finish the sacrifice and

217 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 1925), pp. 714. If a historical figure, it is likely Costus would have been a governor rather than a king. 218 Ibid. pp. 716. It is very important to note that Voragine’s Golden Legend records the most popular version of Catherine’s story, in which Maxentius is named instead of Maximian. The thirteenth-century de Voragine was well aware of speculation that Maximian was, contextually, a more likely this antagonist, and though he recorded the original version of Catherine’s hagiography as was available to him, he made this note at the end of Catherine’s chapter: “It would seem...as some have held, that by a scribe’s error Maxentius was put instead of Maximinus [Maximian].” 219 Ibid, pp. 708-716.

77 then we shall make answer to thee!” He ordered here therefore to be led to the palace and guarded

with care, for he was in admiration of the keenness of her mind and the beauty of her body.220

Frustrated by his conflicting feelings for Catherine—the emperor was at once struck by her beauty and wit, the latter having deeply shaken his confidence—Maximian called to court “all grammarians and rhetors [of Alexandria]...fifty orators [who] surpassed all mortal men in every earthly domain”221 His plan to humble his captive through intense debate fell apart, however, when one by one each pagan philosopher was refuted by Catherine, left speechless and in want to convert to Christianity themselves.222 With this each learned man summoned by Maximian was subsequently murdered by him, condemned to a death that would secure their legacy as martyrs to the Christians of Alexandria. The same fate, however, was not immediately bestowed upon Catherine. In desperation, Maximian pleaded one final time with the girl, offering her a position “second only to the queen” within his palace if only she would make sacrifices to the gods. Again, Catherine adamantly refused and was in turn thrown into a pitch black prison cell where she was stripped of her clothing, beaten with scorpions, and starved for the duration of twelve days.

During her imprisonment, Catherine was visited by various confidants of the emperor, all of whom were converted to Christianity after their meeting with the young girl. The most influential of these visitors was Maximian’s queen, who converted to Christianity and became an

220 Ibid, pp. 710. 221Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 1925), pp. 710. The conversation between Maximian and the Alexandrian philosophers is quite funny, as it reveals his struggle between a lust for Catherine and a shame for his inability to compete with her intellect. When the philosophers ask why they have been summoned just to talk to a young girl, they seem to hint at the strange fact that Catherine is being spared even though countless other Christians would be tortured for much less. The emperor excuses this by stating “I could have forced her to offer sacrifice, or destroyed her with tortures, but I judged it better that she should be completely refuted by your arguments.” i.e.: “The goal is to make her my concubine so don’t question me, instead enjoy this compliment.” 222 Ibid, pp. 708-716.

78 opponent of her husband. After starvation and torture resulted in what looked to be an increase in

Catherine’s vitality, Maximian demanded the girl tortured to death on a wheel of nails to deter further conversions. His queen, however, fought the sentence and incited her husband’s rage: publicly declaring herself a Christian, Maximian’s wife was handed a torturous death by her own husband and, like the philosophers before her, died a Christian martyr.223 Seemingly unaffected by his wife’s violent end, Maximian made a final plea to Catherine stating, “Although by thy black art thou hast caused the queen to die, [if] thou wilt recover thy senses, thou shalt hold first rank in my palace. Today therefore thou shalt either sacrifice to the gods, or lose thy head!”224

Unwavering in her faith, Catherine chose the latter sentence. Upon her execution the girl asked

Christ for any future invocation of her name to “obtain the benefit of Thy mercy” before she was beheaded.225

When Queen Margaret became regent in 1166, the monarchy and her surviving son’s future as king were in a state of precarious vulnerability due to the conspiracies of nobles who had already brought ruin to many aspects to the Norman-Hauteville dynasty’s control in Sicily

(the murder of Maio, the death of heir to the throne Roger IV, Walter Ophamil’s infiltration of the familiares regis, etc.). Despite these threats, the queen—consistently undermined by those in place to support her—was able to quietly and skillfully work within the web of ecclesiastic politics to patronize a structure that would strengthen the monarchy’s administrative power in

Palermo. Significantly, there is some evidence that Saint Catherine’s inclusion opposite

223 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton University Press, 1925), pp. 714. 224 Ibid. 225 Ibid. The aftermath of her death is chronicled by Voragine in a manner that coincides with the alleged collection of Catherine’s body atop Mount Sinai, corresponding with the foundation of the famed Monastery of Saint Catherine and the veneration of her relics there.

79 Margaret’s tomb may, while also conjuring ideals of feminine intellect, directly reference one of the primary source documents that aided in making Monreale a reality.

As previously discussed, a few important charters and papal bulls exist to attest to

Margaret’s strategic patronage of Monreale. Arguably the most important is Nicholas of

Messina’s Charter of 1174, which contained a list of properties under the jurisdiction of Santa

Maria de Maniace to be conceded to a new structure being built outside of Palermo (Monreale) at the queen’s behest.226 Within the charter is a list of twenty-six churches under Santa Maria de

Maniace’s jurisdiction, including one Ecclesiam Sancte Catherine.227 Other than two churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the Church of Saint Catherine is one of only two concessions in the list of twenty-six churches dedicated to a female saint.228 The other, Ecclesiam Sancte

Parasceven, leads us to consideration of the northern transept’s final saint.

Saint Venera

Completing the group of female saints is Saint Venera (figure 4.24), also known as Saint

Veneranda (from the Latin dies Veneris meaning “Friday”) or Saint Parasceven (from the Latin for “preparation,” as Friday was considered a day of preparation for the Sabbath).229 Like Saint

Restituta, Saint Venera’s hagiography is relatively brief. While she was locally revered in Sicily, her exact origins remain ambiguous, so much so that author Sulasmith Brodbeck labels the saint

226 Lynn Townsend White Jr. Latin Monasticism In Norman Sicily (Cambridge, Mass: Medieval Academy of America, 1938 and Literary Licensing, LLC, 2011) pp. 147. 227 Ibid. 228 Ibid. Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 752-753. 229 Giuseppe Capriotti, “The Cauldron of St. Venera and the Comb of St. Blaise. Cult and Iconography in the Confraternities of Albanians and Schiavoni in Fifteenth–Century Ascoli Piceno,” Confraternitas (Confraternitas, January 1, 2016), https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/confrat/article/view/28223. Domenico L Giacovelli, “La Probabile Latinizzazione Spontanea Di Una Locale Tradizione Di Ispirazione Bizantina. Il Culto Di Santa Veneranda Parasceve in Ginosa (TA) Dal Sec. XII All'epoca Moderna.,” Vetera Christianorum 52 (2015), pp. 135- 166. Capriotti also notes the Greek version of the saint, called Paraskevi.

80 as the historian’s “énigme insaisissable”—an elusive riddle.230 This label is generally agreed upon by modern hagiographers, who assert that there was likely not one Venera, but three, their stories conflated over the centuries to form a hagiography specific to the cult of Venera in

Sicily.231 At Monreale the image of Saint Venera follows the template adhered to by each of the six saints in the northern transept grouping; situated in the center of the golden, rectilinear space allotted, Venera is composed in a static, frontal stance. Veiled and haloed, Venera wears a blue dress covered by a green cloak. She holds a cross in her left hand and, like Saint Margaret, a crown in her right.

Venera’s hagiography, as related by Brodbeck, holds that the origin of its protagonist was likely second century Gaul, though the saint’s martyrdom would later occur in Rome during the reign of Antoninus Pious.232 Allegedly born into a wealthy family, Venera was a devout

Christian who wished to remain a virgin and live a life of chastity akin to that of a nun.233

Refusing marriage (though to whom, it is uncertain), Venera was exposed as a Christian and taken to Rome for punishment. Although she was publicly boiled alive in a cauldron of oil and tar, Venera remained unscathed, instead inflicting pain on her torturers by blinding them with the cauldron’s contents. Frightened by the torture’s inefficacy (and angered as his blinded soldiers

230 Sulasmith Brodbeck, Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicile: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle (Ecole française de Rome, 2010) pp. 752-753. 231 As such, the Saint Venera revered in Sicily shares qualities with both the Saint Venera revered in Iconium and the Saint Venera revered in eastern Europe (such as Albania). Scholars struggle to establish concrete precedence for each saint, though some studies, such as Giuseppe Capriotti’s, “The Cauldron of St. Venera and the Comb of St. Blaise. Cult and Iconography in the Confraternities of Albanians and Schiavoni in Fifteenth–Century Ascoli Piceno,” attempt to trace each iteration’s origin. 232 Domenico L Giacovelli, “La Probabile Latinizzazione Spontanea Di Una Locale Tradizione Di Ispirazione Bizantina. Il Culto Di Santa Veneranda Parasceve in Ginosa (TA) Dal Sec. XII All'epoca Moderna.,” Vetera Christianorum 52 (2015), pp. 135-166. This is ascertained from the fourteenth century text Catalogus Sanctorum et gestarum eorum by Venetian hagiographer (and bishop) Pietro de Natalibus. Giacovelli’s text is an excellent source as it collects and traces the precedence of Venera’s various hagiographies in religious texts/compilations of saints. 233 This greatly parallels Saint Radegund’s hagiography—it’s also interesting that both saints have a connection outside of the Mediterranean (with Radegund being connected to Thuringia and France, and Venera allegedly being born in Gaul).

81 had regained their sight through conversion), Antoninus Pious ordered Venera to be beheaded, sealing her fate as a martyr.234

Importantly, Sicilian versions of Venera’s hagiography—though still brief—include episodes that place Venera on the island itself, acting as a missionary and performing miracles in regions that would come to treat her as a patron saint.235 While these anecdotes were likely products of an oral tradition and are recorded almost exclusively in the records of small Sicilian jurisdictions, their existence is an important piece of evidence as to the provenance of Venera’s veneration in Sicily. Saint Venera was particularly revered in the geographical area surrounding

Mount Etna in eastern Sicily and became associated with the volcano itself (likely due to her survival following torture in the lava-like boiling pitch).236 This connection with Etna, more specifically the invocation of Saint Venera against Etna’s destructive eruptions, relates to a very specific moment in Margaret’s regency that represented William II’s budding transition from heir-apparent to coronated king. In 1169 large portions of Catania were destroyed when Etna erupted, the destruction proceeded by deadly earthquakes throughout southeastern Sicily.237 In the aftermath Queen Margaret, along with sons William and Henry, travelled to Catania where the queen arranged for William to give his first public address to a populace that would soon look to him as their king.238 According to twelfth century geographer Ibn Jubayr, young William

II’s speech was well received, his closing statements a nod to the religious tolerance championed

234 Giuseppe Capriotti, “The Cauldron of St. Venera and the Comb of St. Blaise. Cult and Iconography in the Confraternities of Albanians and Schiavoni in Fifteenth–Century Ascoli Piceno,” Confraternitas (Confraternitas, January 1, 2016), https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/confrat/article/view/28223 235 Antonio Borrelli, “Santa Veneranda ,” Santiebeati.it (Santiebeati.it, June 16, 2002), http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/90950. 236 There are a number of saints associated with Mt. Etna, the most popular being Saint Agatha (who is currently in place of Saint Restituta due to restoration following fire damage in 1818-1821). 237 Jacqueline Alio, Margaret Queen of Sicily (Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 336. Walter Woodburn Hyde, “The Volcanic History of Etna,” Geographical Review 1, no. 6 (1916): pp. 401-418, https://doi.org/10.2307/207484. 238 Jacqueline Alio, Margaret Queen of Sicily (Trinacria Editions, 2016), pp. 244.

82 by his grandfather, King Roger II.239 This important event began the cultivation of William II’s reputation as William “the Good,” an epitaph starkly contrasting that of his father, William “the

Bad.” Margaret’s decision to coordinate this royal visit with William II’s first address was successful: the monarchy, though under internal duress due to Walter Ophamil’s infiltration of the inner council, was growing more and more popular in the court of public opinion; a major improvement given the years of mistrust cultivated by William I’s lack of involved leadership.

The account of William II’s first address (and its subsequent success) to those effected by

Etna’s eruption in 1169 is a historical event that connects the queen to Etna and, in the case of

Monreale, Saint Venera. However, there exists another connection between the queen and saint, a connection previously explored between the queen and Saint Catherine: Nicholas of Messina’s charter of 1174. Santa Maria de Maniace included in its jurisdiction a church bearing the name of

Saint Venera, one Ecclesiam Sancte Parasceven (Parasceven, as previously discussed, is another name for Venera).240 Santa Maria de Maniace’s location in the geographical commune of

Maniace placed it just north of Mount Etna, the majority of churches under its jurisdiction within range of Etna’s volcanic activity. As Santa Maria de Maniace had been endowed by the queen, her goal to ultimately absorb its wealth and privileges into the jurisdiction of Monreale, it seems understandable that a saint whose purpose was to ward against volcanic destruction would be evoked by the monastery’s royal benefactor, whose dowry and hope for the monarchy lay at the feet of an active volcano. Furthermore, the Church of Saint Venera was, along with the Church

239 Ibid. “Margaret and her sons made their way to Catania to comfort the people as best they could. Here William spoke publicly in his first official address to his subjects: ‘Let each of you pray to the God he worships. He who has faith in his God will feel peace in his heart.’ Such words reflected William’s kind disposition to all the Abrahamic faithful he ruled.” This was recorded by Ibn Jubayr around 1184, and although it was long after the speech was initially given, Alio asserts that the story was common knowledge and was likely not apocryphal (or, at least, closer to truth than to fiction). 240 Interestingly, the Church of Saint Venera as it exists today is located in Arcireale, a town on the eastern coast of Sicily. It is unknown as to where William II gave his first address following the destruction of Mount Etna in 1169; however, it is alleged to have taken place somewhere in eastern Sicily.

83 of Saint Catherine, one of only two structures in the charter’s list of privileges dedicated to a female saint, both of whom are present opposite Margaret’s tomb in the Cathedral of Monreale.

Monreale’s Devotional Icon: Six Saints of the Northern Transept

As discussed within this chapter, the six female saints at Monreale communicate far more about the northern transept’s occupant than previously attributed to them. Their images are indicative of the overarching condition of the Normans in the Medieval Mediterranean. Though selected by a Norman queen for a Norman cathedral, the Byzantine composition and style of each woman is indicative of a collision between Frankish and Byzantine interests, a milieux that epitomized the visual traditions of medieval Sicily following it’s Norman conquest. By maintaining Byzantine conventions in the composition of each saint—conventions established in the production of icons—the group of saints becomes an icon in itself, the wall that holds them transforming into a personal object that reflects Queen Margaret’s personal interests. As in the twelfth-century Sinai Icon, Six Saints discussed at the beginning of this chapter, the six saints at

Monreale probably represent direct intervention by way of a patron, namely Margaret; without the input of either benefactor, the saints featured on both the icon and the wall of Monreale’s northern transept would likely not exist as we see them today given the distinctiveness of each grouping and, in the case of Margaret, the similarities shared between the vitae of both saints and queen. Furthermore, the female saints opposite Margaret’s tomb reference not only her biography, but the very foundation of Monreale itself. Saints Venera and Catherine, the former a saint whose vita remains ambiguous and the latter a saint whose vita is arguably one of the most well-documented, may directly refer to the Charter of 1174 in which Margaret strategized to obtain episcopal security for the Cathedral of Monreale.

84 Epilogue

In this thesis I have presented evidence that calls into question established narratives surrounding the Cathedral of Monreale and, perhaps more importantly, the way we view medieval women and queenly regency. I hope to have investigated the individuality of Margaret of Navarre in a responsible way, one that examines her intellect and motivations through careful research and hypotheses.

The lack of objective textual evidence surrounding medieval women—a reality this research has worked to confront—is at once an obstacle and an opportunity as it necessitates examining evidence through a different lens; in this case, an art-historical one. The Cathedral of

Monreale’s contribution to our understanding of Margaret of Navarre’s influence is invaluable as it offers an extraordinary opportunity to uncover, through visual analysis, the neglected perspective of a highly competent individual, a woman I have argued for as the mind behind the strategic building project.

The six female saints featured in the northern transept of the Cathedral of Monreale, when analyzed within the context of Margaret’s biography, are expressive of the queen’s personal involvement in a structure that disrupted existing power dynamics in Sicily and curbed the authority of Archbishop Walter Ophamil. As a group of female saints truly unique to

Monreale they encourage comparison with personalized icons (such as the aforementioned Sinai icon with six saints that parallels Monreale’s female saints in number and, likely, function). The saints and their presence opposite Margaret’s tomb is indicative of their purpose as a group meant for personalized devotion. As connecting the vita of each saint to the queen requires an intimate study of her life, it is logical to conclude that it was the queen herself who chose the ensemble, insinuating she had planned prior to her death to be memorialized in the northern

85 transept—a decision paralleling that of her father-in-law Roger II and his request to be interred in the northern transept of the Cathedral of Cefalù (a structure he had patronized). Through a consideration of space and imagery—along with analyses of documentation such as the revealing

Charter of 1174—I hope to have convincingly presented evidence by which to hypothesize that

Margaret was an active participant in the planning and execution of the cathedral. Monreale’s foundation was not only a defensive strategy against the ambitions of Palermo’s Archbishop

Walter Ophamil; it was also, in a very relatable way, symbolic of a mother’s desire to protect her son and his future as a monarch.

While I believe this research has attended to my original inquiry regarding Margaret’s role as a patron, I think there are many unanswered questions that could significantly enrich this thesis. I am particularly interested in tracking down more primary sources that may shed light on

Margaret’s foundation of Santa Maria de Maniace, the monastery that she sponsored using her personal dowry. The donation of this monastery to Monreale was a catalyst for Monreale becoming economically and jurisdictionally superior to the archbishopric of Palermo. Currently, the only document relating to Santa Maria de Maniace I have been able to find is Nicholas of

Messina’s Charter of 1174. Furthermore, any correspondence that may be available between

Pope Alexander III and his allies regarding the Sicilian monarchy could be very insightful. More specifically, correspondence between Alexander III and the queen (or her son, William I, following his coronation) would be invaluable. Additionally, the ability to track down and analyze Sicilian litanies from the eleventh to twelfth centuries would be an interesting course of study. While I believe the saints of the northern transept were chosen by Margaret as representations of her life and interests, finding the group of saints—or, more likely, a few from the group of six—in a litany would contextualize and add to the understanding of why they were

86 chosen. Finally, I would like to further this research by analyzing Margaret’s connections with

England. The only image of Margaret known to this author is from a late twelfth century reliquary pendant, on which Margaret is shown being blessed by Bishop Reginald of Bath (figure

0.1).241 The reliquary is believed to have been presented to the queen by Reginald on the occasion of William II’s marriage to Joan of England (daughter of King Henry II) in 1177. The reliquary is labeled and states that it was produced to hold relics of St. Thomas of Canterbury, also known as Thomas Beckett. One of the earliest images of Thomas Beckett as a saint appears, significantly, within the Cathedral of Monreale. Thomas Beckett’s relationship with Margaret of

Navarre is an interesting avenue of research, especially as this close relationship could explain the inclusion of St. Thomas at Monreale—perhaps on Margaret’s behest.

I believe this research is valuable, not only because it allows for a more accurate understanding of the history of an important cathedral, but because it causes us to think of and, when possible, seek out the many perspectives lost to the often impenetrable duo of gender bias and time. There are countless medieval women who will never have a chance to have their stories told; instead, they were cast by their contemporaries as background actors, beautiful and silent, worth more as an aesthetically pleasing means-to-an-heir rather than an individual. As a queen, Margaret of Navarre faced more criticism than a typical courtier, her detractors labelling her as emotionally unstable—a snub still casually thrown about over 800 years later. However, her position as an administrator left myriad clues as to her person, nowhere more so than in regard to Monreale, the impetus of which, I believe, was in equal parts preservation of the government to be inherited by her son, and personal legacy.

241 Metropolitan Museum of Art, ed., “Reliquary Pendant with Queen Margaret of Sicily Blessed by Bishop Reginald of Bath,” metmuseum.org (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000), https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/468600.

87 FIGURES Introduction

[Figure 0.1] Reliquary Pendant with Queen Margaret of Sicily Blessed by Bishop Reginald of Bath (1174-77). Made in Canterbury, England. This pendant shows the only known image of Queen Margaret. Accessed via the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/468600

[Figure 0.2] This photograph, taken in May of 2020, shows the western entrance of the Cathedral of Monreale in Palermo, Sicily. Accessed via Shutterstock

88

[Figure 0.3] Plan of the Cathedral of Monreale with circled northern transept. Image from Duncan-Flower’ dissertation, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study in their Monastic and Funerary Contexts” (1994)

89 FIGURES Chapter II

[Figure 2.1] Christ Crowning King Roger II. Mosaic located in the narthex at Martorana (Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio) in Palermo, Sicily, dated c.1150s. This is one of the few images available of Roger II. Accessed via Web Gallery of Art, https://www.wga.hu/html_m/zgothic/mosaics/8/2martor4.html

[Figure 2.2] Tombstone for Anne, Mother of Grisandus (Cleric of Roger II). This tombstone, dated to 1149, is an excellent visual expression of the multicultural state of Roger II’s Sicily. The tombstone includes inscriptions in Judeo-Arabic, Greek, Latin, and Arabic. Image from the Sarah MacAllan’s (University of Adelaide) article in the ANU Historical Journal II, Number 1 titled “Object study—The Tombstone of Anne: A study on multilingualism in twelfth century Sicily” (2019)

90 FIGURES Chapter III

[Figure 3.1] This photograph, taken in May of 2020, shows the western entrance of the Cathedral of Monreale in Palermo, Sicily. Accessed via Shutterstock

[Figure 3.2] This image, accessed via Google Earth, shows the geographical proximity (approx. 12 km) between Palermo and the Cathedral of Monreale. The town of Monreale, founded following the cathedral’s construction, is today a commune of the Metropolitan city of Palermo

91

[Figure 3.3] This photograph (n.d.) shows what remains of Santa Maria de Maniace. The site was restored following an earthquake in the late seventeenth-century. In the year 1800, Santa Maria de Maniace and surrounding structures were reconstructed at the command the first Duke of Bronte, Admiral Nelson. It is best known today as Il Castello di Nelson. Accessed via iCastelli.it: Castelli & Torri D’Italia, https://www.icastelli.it/it/sicilia/catania/maniace/castello-di-nelson

[Figure 3.4] This image, accessed via Google Earth, shows the location of Maniace relative to Palermo (and Monreale). Maniace (and Santa Maria de Maniace) is located to the northwest of Mount Etna

92 FIGURES Chapter IV

[Figure 4.1] This is the only image (known to this author) that shows Margaret’s tomb (and those of her sons) in the context of the northern transept. Though they are not the focus of the image (they are located at the far right of the image) the fact that all three are visible together rather than an image of Margaret’s tomb alone (figure 4.2) makes it invaluable. Image from Wolfgang Krönig’s The Cathedral of Monreale and the Norman Architecture in Sicily (1965)

93

[Figure 4.2] Luiz, José. Tomb of Margaret of Navarre. Photograph. Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia, January 26, 2015

[Figure 4.3] Plate depicting the northern wall of the northern transept. The uppermost register depicts the Crucifixion, Entombment, and Resurrection of Christ. The queen’s tomb is directly below the Ascension scene in the center of the lowest register. Image accessed via Borsook’s Messages in Mosaics (1990)

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[Figure 4.4] This photograph shows the western entrance of the Cathedral of Cefalù in Cefalù, Sicily. Image accessed via Wikimedia Commons

[Figure 4.5] This image, accessed from Mathilde Sauquet’s Roger II, King of Heaven and Earth: An Iconological and Architectural Analysis of the Cappella Palatina in the Context of Medieval Sicily (2018), distinguishes the location of the “Royal Box” in the northern transept

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[Figure 4.6] Holy Women. Image from Duncan-Flower’ dissertation, “The Mosaics of Monreale: A Study in their Monastic and Funerary Contexts” (1994)

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[Figure 4.7] Figure 4.6 superimposed with photographs of each saint/pair of saints

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[Figure 4.8] Sinai Icon, Six Saints (c. 1187). Image accessed from Weitzman’s Icon Painting in the Crusader Kingdom (1166)

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[Figure 4.9] Plan of Monreale’s northern transept. Circled numbers show the placements of female saints: Restituta (56), Catherine (57), Venera (58); Margaret (53), Radegund (54), Julitta and Quiricus (55). Image accessed via Borsook’s Messages in Mosaics (1990)

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[Figure 4.10] Mosaic of Saint Margaret. Northern transept, Cathedral of Monreale. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010)

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[Figure 4.11] Mosaic of Saint Margaret. Cappella Palatina. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010)

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[Figure 4.12] Mosaic of Saint Radegonde. North transept, Cathedral of Monreale. 16th c. restoration. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010)

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[Figure 4.13] Empress Zoe Mosaic, Hagia [Figure 4.14] Empress Helen in Byzantine dress, Sophia, Constantinople, ca. 1142. This mosaic is Hermitage of Saint Neophyte, Cyprus, ca. 1192. This is an an excellent example of Byzantine Imperial attire. excellent image to compare with those of Radegonde and Image accessed via https://hagiasophiaturkey.com Catherine due to the similarities between each woman’s kamelaukion. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010)

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[Figure 4.15] Saint Radegund, Cappella Palatina, Palermo, ca. 1140. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010)

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[Figure 4.16] Saint Radegund brought before Chlothar from Vie de Sainte Radegonde, B.M. Poitiers, ms. 250, fol. 31v (c. 1101). Images accessed via La Médiathèque François-Mitterrand & Son Réseau (Poitiers), https://patrimoine.bm- poitiers.fr/doc/SYRACUSE/1117076/vie-de-sainte-radegonde-fortunat-venance-530-601?_lg=fr-FR

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[Figure 4.17] Saint Radegund brought before Chlothar (detail) from Vie de Sainte Radegonde, B.M. Poitiers, ms. 250, fol. 31v (c. 1101). Images accessed via La Médiathèque François-Mitterrand & Son Réseau (Poitiers), https://patrimoine.bm- poitiers.fr/doc/SYRACUSE/1117076/vie-de-sainte-radegonde-fortunat-venance-530-601?_lg=fr-FR

[Figure 4.18] Church of Sainte Radegonde at Poitiers. Accessed via Wikimedia Commons

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[Figure 4.19]: Mosaic of Saint Julitta and Saint Quiriacus. North transept, Cathedral of Monreale. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010)

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[Figure 4.20] Mosaic of Saint Restituta. North transept, Cathedral of Monreale. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010)

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[Figure 4.21] This image, accessed via Google Earth, shows Lacco Ameno on the coast of Ischia

[Figure 4.22] This map of southern Italy shows the important cities and states during Roger II of Sicily's reign, including the Principality of Capua (in pink). Image accessed via MapMaster and Wikimedia Commons

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[Figure 4.23] Mosaic of Saint Catherine. North transept, Cathedral of Monreale. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010)

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[Figure 4.24] Mosaic of Saint Venera. North transept, Cathedral of Monreale. Image from Sulamith Brodbeck’s “Les Saints De La Cathédrale De Monreale En Sicilie: Iconographie, Hagiographie Et Pouvoir Royal à Fin Du XIIe Siècle” (2010)

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